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Collection  ot  il^ottg  Catolintana 
from  tfie  JLittatp  ot 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


I         00032195847 

This  book  must  no 
be  taken  from  fh< 
Library  building. 


THE  LIFE  OF 
ANDREW  JACKSON 


ANDREW  JACKSON  IN  1829.      AGE  62 

From  a  portrait  by  Thomas  Sully  owned  by  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 
portraits  of  Jackson  are  probably  the  best.      For  a  list  see  Hart,  C.  H., 
Thomas  Sully's  Register  of  Portraits,  page  89 


Sully's 


THE  LIFE 

OF 

ANDREW  JACKSON 

By 
JOHN  SPENCER  BASSETT,  Ph.  D. 

Professor  of  History  in   Smith  College 

VOLUME  ONE 

Illustrated 


"//"  you  would  preserve  your  reputation,  or  that  of 
the  state  over  which  you  preside,  you  must  take 
a  straightforward  determined  course;  regardless  of  the 
applause  or  censure  of  the  populace,  and  of  the  fore- 
bodings of  that  dastardly  and  designing  crew  who, 
at  a  time  like  this,  may  be  expected  to  clamor 
continually  in  your  ears.'''' — Jackson  to  Governor 
Blount,  1813. 


Garden  City       New  York 

DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE  &  COMPANY 

1911 


AIL  RIGHTS  RESERVED,  tNClTTDING  THAT  OF  TRANSLATION 
DJTO  FOREIGN  LANGUAGES,  INCLUDING  THE  SCANDINAVUN 


COPYRIGHT,   igll,  BY  OOUBLSDAY,  PAGE  k  COUFANY 


PREFACE 

Probably  the  first  person  to  take  thought  of  a  life  of  Andrew 
Jackson  was  Jackson  himself.  His  letters  show  that  he  began 
to  preserve  material  for  his  biographer  from  the  time  he  became 
a  public  personage.  The  drafts  of  the  letters  he  wrote,  the  letters 
he  received,  and  his  simplest  public  papers  were  carefully  filed 
away  in  boxes.  Some  of  the  papers  were  endorsed,  "To  be  kept 
for  the  historian."  They  became  numerous  with  the  wars 
against  the  Creeks  and  the  British,  his  first  great  achievements; 
and  out  of  that  phase  of  life  came  his  first  biography.  To  Major 
John  Reid,  military  aide,  faithful  companion  in  the  darkest  hours 
of  trial,  author  of  many  of  Jackson's  military  papers,  and  a  man 
of  real  ability  —  as  his  book  shows  —  was  entrusted  the  task 
of  preparing  this  story.  He  carried  the  narrative  through  the 
Creek  war  before  it  was  interrupted  by  death  in  1816.  Jackson 
was  concerned  to  find  a  man  to  complete  the  work,  and  at 
last  hit  upon  John  H.  Eaton,  then  a  promising  young  lawyer 
whose  industry  was  so  great  that  the  book  was  placed  before  the 
public  in  181 7.  Its  origin,  progress,  and  completion  were  all 
under  the  direct  oversight  of  Jackson  himself.  Eaton  brought 
out  a  secon(i  edition  in  1828,  with  chapters  bringing  the  story- 
down  to  date.  It  was  not  a  critical  work,  but  the  parts  which 
had  no  bearing  on  the  political  campaigns  of  1824  and  1828  were 
well  written.  Reid  particularly  recommends  himself  as  a 
straightforward  historian. 

Jackson's  political  career  brought  forth  a  plentiful  crop  of 
biographies,  all  of  which  are  mentioned  in  the  exhaustive  preface 
to  Parton's  "Life  of  Jackson."    Some  praised  him  and  some 


o 
CO 
o 


vi  PREFACE 

condemned,  but  none  were  satisfactory.  Meantime,  the  col- 
lection of  letters  and  official  documents  was  ever  growing,  and 
other  men,  ambitious  of  renown  or  of  Jackson's  favor,  aspired 
to  write  a  comprehensive  biography.  First  it  was  James  Gadsden, 
who  was  assured  in  1822  that  he  should  have  the  coveted  oppor- 
tunity. Why  he  gave  it  up  does  not  appear.  He  was  from 
South  Carolina,  a  friend  of  Calhoun,  and  went  into  occultation 
when  that  statesman  ceased  to  be  chief  lieutenant  of  the  demo- 
cratic leader.  That  of  itself  would  have  made  his  literary  hopes 
impossible;  Next,  Major  Henry  Lee,  of  eminent  Viriginia 
lineage,  and  a  ready  political  writer,  got  the  promise.  He  actu- 
ally began  the  task,  but  fell  from  favor  in  1829  when  charged 
with  such  grave  personal  immorality  that  he  could  no  longer  be 
countenanced.  He  was  rejected  by  the  senate  for  an  unimpor- 
tant consulate,  and  turned  against  Jackson.  It  was  with  some 
difficulty  that  he  was  induced  to  give  up  the  forty  pages  he  had 
finished  of  the  proposed  book. 

Other  aspirants  were  Roger  B.  Taney,  George  Bancroft,  and 
Amos  Kendall.  The  last  was  given  the  promise  of  the  papers.  He 
began  to  write  in  1842,  when  he  had  lost  the  auditorship  to  which 
his  patron  appointed  him.  He  was  then  poor  financially  and 
expected  large  returns  from  his  venture.  He  began  to  publish 
it  in  parts,  announcing  that  fifteen  would  complete  the  enterprise. 
Jackson  placed  the  entire  collection  of  papers  at  his  disposal, 
and  two  visits  to  the  "Hermitage"  gave  fair  opportunity  to 
get  all  it  contained.  He  carried  away  to  Washington  many  of 
the  most  important  papers  and  had  not  returned  them  when 
Jackson  died  in  1845.  His  work  was  interrupted  when  seven 
instalments  had  appeared,  and  it  was  not  completed.  Jackson 
was  not  pleased  with  the  numbers  which  he  saw,  but  did  not 
withdraw  the  papers.  There  was  a  plan  on  foot  to  build  a  Jackson 
memorial  in  Washington,  and  he  desired  them  to  be  handed 
over  by  Kendall,  when  he  had  finished  with  them,  to  Frank  P. 


PREFACE  vii 

Blair  to  hold  until  the  memorial  was  completed,  when  they 
were  to  be  deposited  there.  The  least  valuable  of  the  collection 
were  not  taken  to  Washington  by  Kendall,  and  these  went  to 
Blair  from  Jackson  himself.  Later  Kendall  turned  over  a  part 
of  those  in  hand  to  Blair,  but  the  latter  complained  that  the 
most  valuable  were  not  delivered.  Blair  also  said  that  Kendall 
would  yet  publish  a  life  of  Jackson,  written  to  glorify  the  writer 
of  it;  and  he  intended  to  charge  his  sons  to  write  a  true  biography 
which  would  counteract  the  errors  he  expected  to  be  in  Kendall's. 
This,  so  far  as  the  letters  show,  is  all  the  basis  that  existed  for 
the  assertion  that  Blair  was  to  write  the  life. 

Kendall  died  in  1869  ^^^  Blair  in  1876.  They  had  long  been 
estranged,  and  neither  had  the  impulse  to  write  the  authentic 
book  which  Jackson  contemplated.  Meanwhile,  James  Parton, 
the  most  successful  American  biographer  of  his  day,  undertook 
the  task.  Blair  gave  him  all  encouragement,  but  he  seems  to 
have  had  none  from  Kendall.  His  first  volunie  appeared  in 
1859  and  was  followed  by  the  second  and  third  in  i860.  It 
had  the  failings  and  the  good  qualities  of  its  author.  It  dwelt 
on  the  personality  of  Jackson,  emphasized  the  striking  traits 
of  his  character,  and  paid  little  attention  to  the  general  history 
of  the  period.  It  gained  much  in  interest  by  this  process,  and  the 
interest  was  not  abated  by  the  large  number  of  letters  which 
Parton  included.  And  as  long  as  he  was  concerned  with  the 
early  life  of  the  subject,  in  which  the  action  was  chiefly  personal, 
the  result  was  mostly  good.  But  in  regard  to  Jackson's  political 
career,  the  most  important  phase  of  the  book  for  the  historical 
student,  the  treatment  was  wholly  unsatisfactory.  Parton  had 
no  sympathy  for  Jackson's  political  ideal.  He  had,  to  begin  with, 
little  sense  of  the  historic  forces  of  the  period.  Jackson,  the 
party  builder  and  the  centre  of  as  tense  a  group  of  political  agents 
as  we  have  had,  made  a  slight  impression  on  him.  And,  failing 
to  get  this  point  of  view,  Parton  ceased  to  have  a  correct  view 


viii  PREFACE 

of  the  personality  of  his  subject.  Long  accustomed  to  the  denun- 
ciations and  ridicule  which  educated  men  of  the  day  cast  at 
Jackson,  his  mind  seems  to  have  had  a  singular  reaction.  He 
would  not  accept  them  as  applicable  to  the  motives  of  his  sub- 
ject, but  he  accepted  charges  as  facts  and  disposed  of  them  with 
a  smile.  Under  his  touch  President  Jackson  became  the  great, 
blustering,  ignorant,  well-intentioned,  and  always  amusing  doer 
of  most  of  the  politically  bad  things  of  the  day.  In  this  sense 
his  biography  did  not  meet  the  need;  and  the  work  remained  to 
be  done  by  another. 

Several  excellent  writers  have  undertaken  the  same  task  in 
later  years.  I  have  not  the  hardihood  to  criticize  any  of  them. 
But  I  cannot  fail  to  express  admiration  for  the  succinct  and 
calm  treatment  in  Professor  Smnner's  book  and  for  the  remark- 
ably clear  and  balanced  portrait  in  the  small  volimie  by  Mr. 
William  Garrott  Brown.  Neither  was  meant  for  a  comprehen- 
sive presentation  of  Jackson's  career,  and  the  recent  disclosure 
of  much  manuscript  material  made  it  possible  to  write  a 
more  intimate  and  complete  biography  than  either  undertook 
to  produce.  My  own  task  has  been  to  examine  these  newer 
sources  with  an  eye  to  a  larger  treatment,  and  to  give  the  story 
its  legitimate  setting  in  the  general  history  of  the  country.  These 
sources  exist  in  several  collections  of  manuscripts. 

The  first  is  what  remains  of  Jackson's  own  collection.  After 
the  death  of  Frank  P.  Blair,  sr.,  it  went  to  his  son,  Montgomery 
Blair,  a  member  of  Lincoln's  and  Johnson's  cabinets,  and  after 
his  death  in  1883  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  children,  Mrs. 
Minna  Blair  Richey,  and  Messrs.  Montgomery,  jr.,  Gist,  and 
Woodbury  Blair.  It  remained  for  many  years  at  the  home  of 
Montgomery  Blair,  sr.,  at  Silver  Springs,  Maryland,  and  in 
1903  was  presented  by  the  owners  to  the  Library  of  Congress, 
with  the  stipulation  that  it  be  classified,  filed,  and  preserved 
for  the  use  of  historical  students.     As  an  expression  of  apprecia- 


PREFACE  ix 

tion  of  the  generosity  of  the  donors  the  Library  has  called  it 
"The  Montgomery  Blair  Collection."  Historians  have  cited 
it  by  the  briefer  title  of  "Jackson  Mss."  and  that  term  has  been 
used  in  the  foot-notes  in  the  present  work.  I  cannot  refrain 
from  acknowledging  my  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Montgomery  Blair, 
jr.,  and  his  wife  for  many  courtesies  in  connection  with  the  use 
of  the  papers,  and  for  much  help  which  I  have  been  permitted 
to  receive  from  their  intelligent  knowledge  of  the  contents. 
Their  interest  in  preserving  them  and  making  them  accessible 
to  historians  demands  the  gratitude  of  every  student  of  the 
Jacksonian  period. 

It  is  not  possible  to  say  how  much  was  withheld  from  the  col- 
lection by  Kendall,  since  the  destruction  of  his  papers  by  fire 
about  twenty  years  ago  disposed  of  most  of  those  in  his  pos- 
session. The  collection  is  not  full  for  the  two  presidential  terms 
of  Jackson.  It  is  a  fair  inference  that  Jackson  had  many  papers 
for  that  period,  and  since  they  are  not  found  it  is  probable  these 
were  retained.  But  on  this  phase  of  his  career  contemporary 
criticism  was  so  fierce  that  the  light  has  been  fairly  abundant. 
Here,  too,  we  have  much  information  in  the  papers  of  con- 
temporary politicians,  particularly  in  those  of  Van  Buren,  who 
was  closely  associated  with  the  minor  leaders  of  his  party. 

Before  fire  destroyed  the  Kendall  papers  a  portion  of  them, 
it  is  not  possible  to  say  how  many,  came  into  the  hands  of 
W.  G.  Terrell,  a  Washington  newspaper  man,  who  disposed  of 
them  in  various  ways.  Some  were  published  in  the  Cincinnati 
Commercial,  February  4,  5,  and  10,  1879.  These  were  sixty- 
nine  letters  from  Jackson  to  Kendall  and  cover  the  period  from 
September  4,  1827,  to  May  20,  1845,  the  entire  acquaintance  of 
the  two  men.  They  are  most  complete  from  1832  to  1835. 
It  is  possible  that  some  of  these  letters  were  from  the  Jackson 
collection,  although  all  were  conceivably  the  property  of  Kendall. 
In  1909  Hon.  John  Wesley  Gaines,  member  of  congress  from 


X  PREFACE 

Tennessee,  purchased  other  papers  which  had  been  in  Terrell's 
possession  and  came  from  Kendall.  Mr.  Gaines  presented  them 
to  Mrs.  Rachael  J.  Lawrence,  daughter  of  Andrew  Jackson, 
jr.  Among  them  were  several  which  must  have  been  secured  by 
Kendall  from  Jackson.  The  most  important  were  published 
in  the  Nashville  Tennesseean,  April  i8  and  25,  1909. 

Some  other  smaller  collections  of  Jackson  letters  exist.  The 
Tennessee  Historical  Society  owns  one  collection,  and  a  complete 
list  of  its  contents  is  published  in  the  American  Magazine  of 
History  (Nashville),  volume  vi,,  pp.  330-334.  The  most  impor- 
tant pieces  are  published  in  full  in  the  same  journal.  Many 
letters  from  Jackson  to  W.  B.  Lewis  are  in  the  Ford  collection 
in  the  New  York  PubKc  Library,  some  of  which  have  been  pub- 
lished in  the  Bulletin  of  the  library.  Through  the  courtesy  of 
Mr.  Worthington  C.  Ford  and  Mr.  Gaillard  Hunt,  his  successor 
as  chief  of  the  manuscripts  division  of  the  Library  of  Congress, 
I  have  been  able  to  satisfy  myself  of  the  value  of  other  smaller 
and  more  personal  collections. 

Of  the  papers  not  primarily  Jackson's  the  most  important 
are  in  the  Van  Buren  collection  in  the  Library  of  Congress. 
It  contains  few  letters  by  Van  Buren,  for  it  was  not  his  habit 
to  leave  an  exact  record  of  transactions.  Late  in  life  he  asked 
Jackson  to  return  his  letters,  and  the  master  of  the  "Hermitage" 
complied.  Van  Buren  gave  as  his  reason  the  desire  to  use  them 
in  an  autobiography  he  was  preparing.  The  missives  in  ques- 
tion were  doubtless  destroyed,  since  they  do  not  appear  in  the 
Van  Buren  collection,  nor  are  there  traces  of  them  or  the  use 
of  them  in  the  unpublished  autobiography  which  survives. 
A  few  remain  in  the  Jackson  papers,  probably  overlooked  when 
the  rest  went  back  to  the  writer  of  them.  On  the  other  hand, 
Van  Buren  did  not  mind  keeping  the  correspondence  of  his 
friends.  A  large  collection  survives  in  which  are  many  letters 
from  the  leading  politicians  of  the  day.     Men  who  were  in  awe 


PREFACE 


XI 


of  Jackson,  or  who  represented  other  factions  than  his,  were  in 
communication  with  the  cool  and  shrewd  New  Yorker,  whose 
philosophy  was  to  keep  on  personal  terms  with  any  man  whom 
he  might  some  day  need  for  a  friend.  Another  valuable  series 
is  the  W.  B.  Lewis  letters  in  the  Ford  collection  in  the  New  York 
Public  Library. 

It  was  Jackson's  habit  to  write  his  letters  in  draft,  leaving  his 
secretaries  to  make  the  fair  copies  which  were  actually  sent  to 
correspondents.  The  originals  were  carefully  filed  and  are 
numerously  preserved.  The  Blair  heirs  placed  in  the  collection 
before  it  went  to  the  Library  of  Congress  many  originals  from 
him  to  their  grandfather,  of  which  no  drafts  or  copies  were  made. 
Besides  these,  the  Jackson  papers  contain  many  unimportant 
documents.  Business  letters,  formal  notes  from  strangers, 
dinner  invitations,  morning  reports  of  regiments  at  New  Orleans, 
and  letters  from  admirers  begging  for  locks  of  his  hair  were  treas- 
ured with  as  much  care  as  the  correspondence  of  his  most  promi- 
nent party  associates.  This  lack  of  discernment  in  reference 
to  the  source  of  information  of  the  future  biography  witnesses 
how  seriously  he  considered  the  task  he  was  leaving  to  the  his- 
torian. Van  Buren  and  Lewis  showed  more  discrimination  and 
weeded  out  unimportant  matter.  In  the  Atlantic  Monthly^ 
volume  95,  page  217,  there  is  a  valuable  description  of  "The 
Jackson  and  Van  Buren  Papers"  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  James 
Schouler,  the  historian. 

These  manuscripts  are  the  best  portrayers  of  Jackson.  They 
reveal  faithfully  a  man  who  was  great,  spite  of  many  limitations. 
He  was  badly  educated,  he  was  provincial,  his  passions  fre- 
quently overcast  judgment,  he  had  a  poor  concept  of  a  proper 
adjustment  of  the  administrative  machine,  and  he  clung  tena- 
ciously to  some  of  the  worst  political  ideals  of  the  past;  yet  he 
was  so  well  endowed  by  nature  that  he  broke  over  these  impedi- 
ments and  became  a  man  of  distinction.     He  belonged  to  the 


xii  PREFACE 

class  of  strong  personalities  in  which  are  Bismarck,  WeUington, 
Wallenstein,  and  Juhus  Caesar.  He  was  untaught  in  books  and 
to  a  large  extent  unteachable,  but  through  native  abiUty  he  solved 
the  greatest  problems  from  the  standpoint  of  the  light  within  him. 
His  ideals  were  absorbed  from  the  frontier  environment:  had  he 
been  placed  by  nature  in  other  surroundings,  for  example, 
the  society  of  some  older  community,  he  must  still  have  been 
a  marked  man,  possibly  a  leader  equally  effective  in  the  life 
around  him.  But  it  was  his  to  represent  a  new  community  which 
reckoned  little  with  the  finer  points  of  intelligent  experience. 
He  voiced  the  best  thought  of  the  frontier,  which  happened  to 
be  the  average  thought  of  the  older  parts  of  America  of  his  day. 
His  Western  ideals  were  for  him  the  only  ideals.  They  gave 
him  his  battle-cry,  which,  when  once  uttered,  found  support  in 
the  hearts  of  average  Americans  everywhere;  and  this  was  the 
secret  of  the  Jacksonian  movement. 

Nor  was  he  altogether  dependent  for  position  on  his  military 
renown,  which  only  served  to  call  attention  to  qualities  which  on 
the  battlefield  or  in  the  political  arena  were  the  real  Jackson. 
He  persisted  as  a  pohtician  quite  independently  of  the  admira- 
tion men  had  for  his  achievements  as  a  warrior.  Taylor,  Scott, 
and  Grant  were  also  military  heroes  whose  soldierly  qualities 
thrust  them  into  the  political  field,  where  their  well-earned  laurels 
faded.  In  Jackson's  case  the  soldier's  wreath  blossomed  and 
grew  until  political  achievement  became  the  chief  part  of  his 
glory. 

It  has  been  my  object  to  show  in  the  faithful  story  of  his 
life  the  exact  trace  he  left  in  the  nation's  history.  I  have  not 
slighted  his  failings  or  his  virtues;  and  I  have  tried  to  refrain 
from  warping  the  judgment  of  the  reader  by  passing  upon  his 
actions.  I  have  sought,  also,  to  present  a  true  picture  of  the 
political  manipulations  which  surrounded  him  and  in  which  he 
was  an  important  factor.    I  can  hardly  hope  to  have  performed 


PREFACE  xiii 

either  task  with  universal  satisfaction.  I  am  conscious  that 
errors  of  judgment  and  misapprehension  of  facts  may  have 
clouded  the  effort  on  either  or  both  sides;  but  as  each  little  may 
serve  to  lead  the  human  mind  to  a  clearer  realization  of  truth, 
so  I  venture  to  hope  that  this  life  may  be  a  contribution  to  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  complex  period  with  which  it  deals.  For 
the  errors  of  either  kind  I  beg  the  reader's  generous  indulgence. 

I  must  add  an  expression  of  my  gratitude  to  many  friends  of 
learning  for  abundant  aid  in  the  work  I  have  done.  To  Messrs. 
Herbert  Putnam,  Worthington  C.  Ford,  and  Gaillard  Hunt,  of 
the  Library  of  Congress,  I  am  especially  indebted  for  kindnesses 
which  went  far  beyond  the  requirements  of  professional  service. 
I  have  received  valuable  aid  from  Mr.  Wilberforce  Fames,  of 
the  New  York  Public  Library;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Montgomery  Blair, 
of  Silver  Springs,  Maryland;  Miss  E.  Estella  Davies,  of  Nashville; 
Mr.  Edward  Biddle,  of  Philadelphia;  Mr.  George  W.  Cable, 
Dr.  John  H.  Hildt,  and  Mr.  Henry  B.  Hinckley,  of  Northampton, 
Massachusetts;  Professor  R.  C.  H.  Catterall,  of  Cornell  Univer- 
sity; Mrs.  J.  Lindsay  Patterson,  of  Winston-Salem,  North  Car- 
olina; Mr.  William  Beer,  of  New  Orleans;  Professor  Frederic  W. 
Moore,  of  Vanderbilt  University ;  and  many  others  whose  interest 
and  encouragement  have  been  as  valuable  as  more  material 
assistance.  I  save  for  my  last  mentioned  and  best  gratitude  the 
personal  help  of  my  wife,  Jessie  Lewellin  Bassett,  through  the 
tedious  years  of  labor  which  my  task  has  demanded. 

Northampton^  Massachusetts,  J.  S.  B. 

September  2j,  igio. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

DC. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 


Volume  I  page 

Early  Years 3 

Early  Career  in  Tennessee 15 

Early  Public  Service 25 

Jackson  and  Burr 37 

Early  Quarrels  and  Other  Adventures       ...  55 

Early  Military  Career 73 

Affairs  at  Fort  Strother 88 

The  Creeks  Subdued 109 

Operations  Around  Mobile,  18 14 126 

The  Defenses  of  New  Orleans 144 

A  Christmas  "Fandango" 161 

January  the  Eighth,  18 15 182 

New  Orleans  Under  Martial  Law 208 

Crushing  the  Seminoles  in  Florida 233 

The  Seminole  War  in  Relation  to  Diplomacy  and 

Politics 265 

Governor  of  Florida 294 

The  Presidential  Campaign  of  1824      .     .     .     .  322 

Election  by  the  House  of  Representatives     .     .  350 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Andrew   Jackson   in    1829.      From   a   portrait   by 

Thomas   Sully Frontispiece 

Ui^  FAaNG  PAGE 

The  Hermitage       44 

Mrs.  Rachael  Donelson  Jackson,  Wife  of  Andrew  Jackson       122 

Andrew  Jackson  in  1815.    From  a  miniature  on  ivory  by 

Jean  Francois  Vallee 222 


MAPS 


f  OILOWINO  PAGE 


Jackson's  Operations  in  the  Creek  Country  and  Around 

Mobile,  1813-1814 88 

Operations  of  the  American  and  British  Armies  near 

New  Orleans 176 


THE  LIFE  OF 
ANDREW  JACKSON 


CHAPTER  I 

EARLY   YEARS 

In  the  years  immediately  following  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  1763, 
the  western  parts  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  were  filled  with 
vast  pioneer  enterprises.  Along  the  roads  which  ran  southward 
from  the  Potomac  to  the  Dan,  Yadkin,  and  Catawba,  toiled 
many  trains  of  immigrant  wagons,  and  from  Charleston  to  the 
upper  valley  region  of  South  Carolina  another  throng  of  settlers 
was  ever  traveling.  They  all  sought  the  red  uplands,  where 
rich  meadows  bordered  a  thousand  creeks  and  brooks.  Before 
this  host  primitive  nature  quickly  gave  way.  Their  axes 
soon  sang  triumphantly  through  many  square  miles  of  oak  and 
pine  land,  their  cattle  drove  the  deer  from  the  rich  canebrakes, 
their  corn  fields  began  to  nod  saucily  at  the  retreating  forests, 
and  homesteads  and  orchards  announced  the  advent  of  the  white 
man's  civiUzation. 

The  people  came  from  several  sources.  Scotch-Irish  pre- 
dominated, but  Germans  were  numerous,  and  there  were  many 
who  belonged  to  that  roving  frontier  class  which,  already  sep- 
arated from  their  Old- World  moorings,  had  acquired  the  right 
to  be  called  "American."  It  is  convenient  to  classify  them  by 
their  religious  association,  since  religion  was  one  of  their  earliest 
concerns.  The  Scotch-Irish  were  Presbyterians  almost  to  a  man; 
and  their  arrival  was  quickly  followed  by  itinerant  preachers, 
meeting-houses,  and  organized  congregations.  The  Germans 
were  Moravians,  Lutherans,  and  German  Reformers.  Of  the 
others  many  were  Baptists,  some  were  Quakers,  and  many 
more  were  of  the  class  who  care  little  for  creed  or  parson. 

i 


4  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

Some  of  the  best  land  in  all  this  region  was  that  which  the 
Catawba  Indians  had  occupied  from  the  days  of  early  colonial 
settlement.  It  lay  on  the  Catawba  River  at  the  point  where 
it  crosses  the  North  Carolina  boundary  line  and  south  of 
Mecklenburg  County  in  the  upper  province.  By  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  this  land  was  open  for  settlement. 
It  passed  the  ordinary  course  with  good  land,  first  into  the  hands 
of  speculators,  then  into  the  possession  of  small  holders,  and 
finally  after  many  transfers  among  these  purchasers  into  the 
hands  of  a  permanent  body  of  prosperous  settlers. 

A  little  north  of  the  point  where  the  state  line  turns  to  pass 
around  the  old  Indian  reservation  it  is  cut  by  Waxhaw  Creek, 
which  rises  in  North  Carolina  and  flows  westward  to  the  Catawba. 
Its  adjacent  lands  are  particularly  desirable,  and  they  attracted 
a  thrifty  and  valuable  class  of  immigrants.  Most  of  them  were 
from  the  North  of  Ireland,  and  the  Waxhaw  Meeting-House, 
which  they  built  soon  after  their  arrival,  was  one  of  the  most 
noted  early  landmarks  of  the  Catawba  Valley. 

Among  the  people  whom  the  wagon  trains  from  Charleston 
brought  to  this  place  in  1765  were  Andrew  Jackson,  Elizabeth, 
his  wife,  and  their  two  sons,  Hugh  and  Robert.  They  were  poor 
people  from  the  neighborhood  of  Carrickfergus.  The  husband 
was  probably  of  the  Irish  tenant  class,  and  the  wife  is  said  to 
have  been  a  weaver  both  before  and  after  her  marriage/    With 


1  "A  memorandum  preserved  by  Jackson  among  his  papers  and  without  evidence  of  its  reUability  asserts 
that  there  were  four  brothers  in  Ireland  by  the  name  of  Jackson  each  of  whom  occupied  as  freeholder 
"a  large  farm."  Andrew,  the  youngest,  lived  near  Castlereagh  and  sold  his  property  in  1765,  and  went 
to  America  where  he  landed  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  removed  to  the  back  country.  All  of  these  Jacksons. 
it  declared,  were  devoted  to  the  Established  Kirk  of  Scotland  and  were  noted  for  their  hospitality.  Castlereagh 
is  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  from  Carrickfergus  whence  Jackson  and  Crawford  sailed  for 
America.  One  brother  —  his  name  is  not  given  —  lived  at  Ballynisca,  in  the  parish  of  Car-Donnell  and  was 
father  of  Samuel  Jackson,  who  became  senior  partner  in  the  Philadelphia  firm  of  Jackson  and  Bayard,  with 
whom  William  Patterson,  of  Baltimore,  lived  when  a  youth.  Another  brother,  name  not  given,  lived  at 
Knocknagoney,  parish  of  Holywood,  and  his  daughter  married  James  Suffern,  of  New  York,  a  brother  of 
John  Suffern,  a  prominent  state  politician.  The  fourth  brother,  whose  name  is  not  mentioned,  lived  at 
Bally  Willy,  parish  of  Bangor,  and  was  called  "Laird  Jackson."  This  memorandum  could  have  been  prepared 
after  the  appearance  of  Reid's  book,  and  there  is  an  evident  purpose  to  enhance  Jackson's  social  standing. 
He  endorsed  most  of  his  papers,  but  nothing  appears  on  this. 


EARLY  YEARS  5 

them  came  James  Crawford  and  his  wife,  a  sister  of  Elizabeth 
Jackson.  Another  sister  had  already  come  to  the  neighborhood, 
and  her  husband,  George  McKemy,  bought  land  on  the  North 
Carohna  side  of  the  boundary  line.  Several  other  sisters  were 
settled  in  the  same  community,  two  of  whom  were  married  to 
brothers  by  the  name  of  Leslie.  Crawford  had  some  money  and 
was  able  to  buy  a  good  farm  on  the  lower  part  of  the  creek  and 
in  the  southern  province,  but  Jackson,  being  very  poor,  contented 
himself  with  a  tract  of  land  on  Twelve  Mile  Creek,  about  five 
miles  east  of  the  line.  The  place  was  in  North  Carolina,  near 
the  present  railroad  station  of  Potter,  and  it  lies  now,  though 
not  definitely  pointed  out,  in  a  township  and  county  which  are 
called  respectively  Jackson  and  Union  in  honor  of  the  son  of 
this  impecunious  immigrant.  Two  years  of  labor  were  enough 
to  break  the  body  of  the  unfortunate  man,  and  early  in  March, 
1767,  he  rested  from  all  his  anxieties.  His  loyal  friends,  after 
giving  his  spirit  the  honor  of  a  true  Irish  wake,  placed  his  re- 
mains in  the  Waxhaw  churchyard.  The  widow  abandoned  the 
farm,  the  title  to  which  the  husband  seems  never  to  have  ac- 
quired, and  was  received  with  her  children  into  the  home  of  her 
sister  Crawford.  A  few  days  later,  March  15,  she  was  delivered 
of  a  third  son  whom  she  called  Andrew  in  token  of  his  father. 
In  the  house  of  her  sister  she  took  the  place  of  housekeeper  — 
for  Mrs.  Crawford  was  an  invalid  —  and  her  children  were  given 
the  usual  advantages  of  a  well-to-do  frontier  home. 

The  exact  spot  at  which  Jackson  was  born  has  become  a  sub- 
ject of  controversy.  By  a  tradition  which  lingered  in  the  Leslie 
branch  of  the  family  the  event  was  said  to  have  occurred  at  the 
house  of  George  McKemy.  When  the  mother,  so  the  story  runs, 
journeyed  from  her  stricken  abode  to  her  sister's  home,  she 
stopped  for  a  visit  at  the  home  of  McKemy,  and  here 
labor  came  upon  her.  But  when  she  was  able  to  travel, 
she   continued   her   journey;    and    thus    it   came   about    that 


6  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

people  thought  the  Crawford  home  welcomed  into  the  world  the 
future  President. 

The  LesHe  tradition  was  reduced  to  writing  in  1858,  by  General 
Walkup,  a  citizen  of  North  Carolina,  who  was  enthusiastically 
convinced  that  to  his  own  state  belonged  the  honor  of  having 
the  birthplace  of  so  distinguished  a  man.  The  evidence  is 
chiefly  traceable  to  the  statement  of  Sarah  Lathen,  whose  mother, 
Mrs.  Leslie,  was  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Jackson.  Sarah  Lathen,  in  1767, 
was  a  girl  of  seven  years,  and  in  her  old  age  she  was  accustomed 
to  tell  her  family  and  friends  that  she  remembered  going  with 
her  mother  across  the  fields  at  night  to  the  house  of  George 
McKemy  to  attend  Mrs.  Jackson  when  Andrew  was  born,  and 
that  her  mother,  who  was  a  midwife,  was  summoned  for  that 
purpose.  Some  thirty  years  after  her  death  the  story  was 
collected  from  those  who  remembered  that  she  told  it  and  re- 
duced to  written  affidavits.  Parton  has  reproduced  it  at  length 
and  accepted  it  as  true  in  his  Life  of  Jackson, 

On  the  other  side  is  the  general  story  accepted  in  the  com- 
munity and  not  openly  contradicted  in  the  life  of  Jackson,  al- 
though several  biographies  of  him  were  written  in  that  period, 
two  of  them  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  their  subject. 
Jackson  himself  was,  in  fact,  very  clear  in  his  idea  of  his  birth- 
place. "I  was  born,"  said  he  on  August  11,  1824,  ''in  South 
Carolina,  as  I  have  been  told,  at  the  plantation  whereon 
James  Crawford  lived,  about  one  mile  from  the  Carolina  Road 
and  of  the  Waxhaw  Creek;  left  that  state  in  1784.'"  This  idea 
was  confirmed  in  many  of  his  important  state  papers  and  private 
letters.  In  the  nullification  proclamation  and  in  his  will  he 
referred  to  South  Carohna  as  "my  native  state." 

In  later  years  a  spirited  controversy,  has  grown  up  on  this 


»Vol.I.,  S3-S7. 

'Jackson  to  James  H.  Weatherspoon,  of  South  Carolina,  Aug.  11,1824.  Jackson  Mss-See  also  F.  P.  Blair 
to  Lewis,  Oct.  25,  iSso,  Mss  N.  Y.  Pub.  Library;  and  Jackson ,  to  Kendall.  Nov.  2, 1843,  (Cincinnati  Commer' 
cial,  F»b.  10,  1879)  in  which  he  speaks  of  South  Carolina  as  "  my  birthplace  and  of  which  I  am  proud." 


EARLY  YEARS  7 

point  between  citizens  of  the  two  states.  Enthusiasm  has 
abounded,  and  the  argument  has  followed  state  lines  till  much 
confusion  has  resulted.  Aside  from  such  puzzling  factors, 
each  contention  presents  some  elements  of  probabiHty.  To  the 
writer  the  weight  of  evidence  seems  to  favor  the  South  Caro- 
linians. The  Leslie  tradition  rests  on  an  old  woman's  account 
of  an  event  which  happened  when  she  was  a  child  of  seven, 
an  event,  too,  about  which  a  child  could  not  be  well  informed. 
It  was  weakly  corroborated  by  a  statement  of  Thomas  Faulkner, 
aged  seventy;  by  another  man,  also  a  Leslie  descendant,  who  relied 
on  information  which  he  said  he  had  from  Sarah  Lathen's  mother 
fifty  years  earlier:  and  by  James  D.  Craig's  statement  that  he 
had  heard  —  evidently  much  earlier  than  his  statement  —  "a 
very  aged  lady,"  Mrs.  Cousar,  say  that  she  assisted  at  the  birth 
at  McKemy's  house. 

The  weakness  of  this  evidence  lies  in  the  long  time  which  elapsed 
between  the  event  and  the  time  of  its  recording.  All  of  it  must 
have  been  carried  many  years  in  the  minds  of  two  people,  one 
passing  it  on  when  she  was  very  old  to  another  who  told  it  when 
he  was  very  old.  Add  to  this  the  enthusiasm  which  the  narrators 
had  for  their  story  and  the  lack  of  critical  examination  of  it 
when  it  came  from  their  lips,  place  against  it  the  clear  statement 
of  Jackson  made  in  response  to  a  question  which  this  controversy 
aroused,  that  he  was  born  in  the  house  of  James  Crawford,  in 
South  Carolina,  and  to  most  men  the  story  will  probably  appear 
doubtful.  Somewhat  more  trustworthy  is  the  explicit  statement 
of  General  Jackson.' 

Mrs.  Jackson  was  a  pious  woman  and  is  said  to  have  fixed 
in  her  heart  that  her  youngest  son  should  become  a  minister, 
which  leads  to  the  suggestion  that  he  must  in  early  life  have 
shown  some  leaning  toward  a  Hfe  of  public  activity.     But  in  his 

'The  evidence  favoring  the  South  Carolina  side  has  been  collected  by  A.  S.  Salley,  jr.,  and  published  ia 
the  Charleston  Sunday  News,  July  31,  1904.  Later  contention  on  the  opposite  side  has  added  little  to 
PutOD;but  see  Tompldns's  History  oj  Mecklenburg  County,  North  CaroUtM,  II.,    Chap.  V. 


8  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

earliest  habits  there  was  Httle  to  confirm  her  hopes.  Of  all  the 
wild  youths  of  the  neighborhood  he  was  the  wildest.  The  rough 
sports,  passions,  and  habits  of  the  North  Ireland  tenantry  were 
planted  in  the  new  community,  although  ideals  were  being 
elevated  by  the  development  of  property  and  new  obligations. 
The  boy  had  a  sensitive,  quick-tempered,  persistent,  independent, 
and  rather  violent  disposition;  and  there  was  little  in  the  life 
aroimd  him  to  soften  these  traits.  He  had  an  absorbing  passion 
for  excelling  among  a  people  whose  ideals  of  excellence  ex- 
pressed themselves  in  horse-racing,  cock-fighting,  readiness 
to  fight  in  defense  of  what  they  considered  their  honor,  and  in 
the  rather  stilted  but  genuine  habits  of  the  frontier  gentleman. 
As  he  came  into  the  teens  he  was  proficient  in  the  use  of  heavy 
oaths,  proverbially  ready  for  a  quarrel,  fond  of  cock-fighting, 
already  precocious  in  the  knowledge  of  a  horse,  and  in  many 
other  ways  developed  in  waywardness.  A  moralist  might  have 
seen  in  this  no  good  results  for  the  boy's  future,  and  for  most 
youths  the  forecast  would  have  been  a  good  one;  but  Jackson 
differed  from  most  people.  He  was  ever  filled  with  a  purpose 
to  attain  eminence.  Vice  was  not  an  absorbing  trait  with  him, 
even  when  he  set  at  defiance  the  canons  of  decorum.  He  was 
not  addicted  to  the  more  animal  faults,  and  his  errancy  grew 
out  of  intellectual  quaHties  rather  than  appetite.  He  was 
destined  to  shake  it  oft'  with  the  advent  of  serious  things,  as 
many  another  strong-spirited  man  has  done. 

The  ideals  of  the  Waxhaw  settlement  did  not  demand  much 
schooling  for  the  boys.  Ability  to  read  and  understand  indif- 
ferent English,  to  write  a  legible  hand,  and  to  make  ordinary 
business  calculations  were  then  the  chief  features  of  our  rural 
education  everywhere.  It  was  enough  for  the  ordinary  purposes 
of  the  mass  of  American  farmers,  but  it  was  too  Httle  for  a  man 
v/ho  was  to  play  a  part  in  the  government  of  the  state  or  nation. 
Of  such  instruction  a  modicum  was  offered  in  the  upper  parts 


EARLY  YEARS  9 

of  the  Carolinas  and  of  that  Andrew  got  his  share,  or  something 
less.  He  was  neither  studious  nor  teachable,  and  what  he  got 
came  through  sheer  contact  with  the  process  of  education. 
He  was  mentally  an  egoist ;  that  is  to  say,  one  who  relied  on  him- 
self. There  was  no  time  in  his  life  when  he  was  willing  to  learn 
of  others.  Ideas  came  to  him  originally,  and  in  obedience 
to  a  strong  natural  aptness  for  knowing  what  he  wanted :  it  was 
not  his  nature  to  take  them  from  others. 

To  the  day  of  his  death  Jackson's  attainments  in  scholarship 
were  very  meagre.  He  knew  no  more  Latin  than  he  could  pick 
up  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  of  lawyer;  his  spelhng  and 
grammar  were  devoid  of  regularity  and  showed  the  utmost 
indifference  to  the  rules  by  which  they  were  determined  for  other 
people;  and  his  acquaintance  \vith  Hterature  is  a  negligible 
quantity  in  an  estimate  of  his  life.  Occasionally  one  finds 
in  his  papers  some  oft-quoted  phrase,  as,  Carthago  delettda  est, 
but  it  is  always  one  which  he  must  have  heard  on  a  hundred 
stumps  in  Tennessee.  Of  all  his  prominent  contemporaries 
his  utterances  are  most  barren  of  allusions  which  show  an  ac- 
quaintance with  poetry,  history,  or  literature;  and  in  comparison 
with  him  the  grandiose  Benton  seems  a  pedant. 

His  education  was  interrupted  by  the  call  for  soldiers  to  resist 
the  British  invasion,  an  appeal  most  in  keeping  with  his  spirit. 
In  the  spring  of  1780,  all  the  American  troops  in  South  Carolina 
were  carefully  gathered  into  the  city  of  Charleston,  and  when 
the  place  was  taken  with  all  its  defenders  on  May  12,  the  state 
was  at  the  mercy  of  its  foes.  Bands  of  red-coats  and  tories 
began  to  ravage  the  state  wherever  the  patriots  made  a  stand. 
One  of  them,  the  remorseless  Tarleton  riding  at  its  head,  fell 
on  the  Waxhaw  community  Hke  an  angry  spirit,  butchering  a 
band  of  soldiers  and  ravaging  the  homes  of  the  people.  Hard 
after  this  attack  came  Rawdon  for  another  blow,  but  the  people, 
unwiUing    to    face    him,    fled    into    the   north  till  the  invader 


lo  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

turned  back.  Then  the  whigs  rallied  for  vengeance.  Down 
from  North  Carolina  came  Da\de  and  Sumpter,  two  of  the  best 
light-horse  leaders  of  the  whole  war,  and  at  the  battle  of  Hanging 
Rock,  on  August  i,  1780,  they  almost  took  revenge  for  the 
wrongs  of  their  compatriots.  In  this  battle  was  Andrew  Jackson, 
then  but  thirteen  years  old,  and  his  brother  Robert  rode  in  the 
army  of  Davie.  Hugh,  the  eldest  of  their  mother's  sons,  had 
given  up  his  Hfe  some  months  earlier  at  the  battle  of  Stono. 

From  Hanging  Rock  the  boy  troopers  returned  safely  to  their 
home,  but  the  expedition  gave  them  a  taste  for  war,  and  in  the 
following  year  they  joined  with  their  neighbors  in  trj^'ing  to  cap- 
ture a  body  of  British  troops  at  Waxhaw  Church.  The  attempt 
was  a  failure,  the  enemy  turned  and  defeated  them,  and  scouring 
the  country  for  fugitives  took  the  two  boys  prisoners.  The 
commanding  officer  —  it  was  not  Tarleton  —  ordered  Andrew 
to  black  his  boots.  The  boy  remonstrated,  we  may  guess  in  what 
tone,  that  he  was  a  prisoner-of-war  and  not  a  servant.  The 
reply  was  a  saber-blow  aimed  at  the  head  of  the  young  prisoner: 
it  was  warded  by  the  arm  of  the  recipient,  but  hand  and  head 
carried  the  mark  of  it  to  the  grave.  Robert  was  also  ordered 
to  do  the  same  service  and  on  refusing  received  a  more  serious 
wound  than  his  younger  brother.  In  this  plight  they  were 
placed  in  Camden  jail  with  a  number  of  other  prisoners.  They 
received  little  attention  here  and  were  exposed  to  small-pox. 
From  such  a  situation  they  were  rescued  by  the  efforts  of  their 
mother  who  induced  the  British  to  include  them  in  an  exchange 
of  prisoners  arranged  between  the  two  sides.  Robert  soon  died, 
either  of  small-pox  or  of  his  neglected  wounds,  but  Andrew  es- 
caped further  danger.  Thus  the  widowed  mother  gave  two  of 
her  sons,  both  of  whom  were  under  age,  to  the  cause  of  the  Revo- 
lution. One  other  sacrifice,  her  own  life,  remained  to  her. 
Word  came  up  from  the  seacoast  that  the  Waxhaw  prisoners 
on  the  British  ships  in  Charleston  Harbor  were  ill  and  needed 


EARLY  YEARS  ii 

attention.  She  joined  a  party  of  volunteers  who  went  down 
to  the  city  to  nurse  the  sufferers,  took  prison  fever  from  her 
patients,  and  died  from  the  effects  of  it.' 

The  end  of  the  Revolution  thus  found  Jackson  alone  in  the 
world  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  a  strong  and  self-reliant  boy,  who 
was  likely  to  take  care  of  himself,  although  it  was  not  quite 
certain  that  he  would  do  it  in  the  best  way.  He  thought  first, 
so  we  are  told,  of  completing  his  education;  but  there  was  not 
much  that  a  boy  of  his  experience  and  disposition  could  learn 
in  the  schools  of  the  vicinity.  Then  he  thought  of  becoming 
a  saddler,  but  a  few  weeks  were  enough  to  satisfy  him  that  he 
was  not  fitted  for  so  monotonous  a  life.  Next  he  tried  school- 
teaching,  but  neither  his  attainments  nor  his  temper  suited  such 
a  calling.  If  his  mother  left  any  property  at  all  it  was  incon- 
siderable, and  to  begin  Hfe  as  a  planter  was,  therefore,  out  of 
the  question.  In  his  dilemma  he  turned  to  Charleston,  which 
meant  to  the  frontiersman  the  great  world  beyond  the  forest;  and 
there  he  would  try  his  fortune.  In  what  line  he  sought  to  estab- 
hsh  himself  we  are  not  informed,  but  he  was  not  long  in  finding 
his  way  to  the  race- track,  where  he  soon  bet  and  swaggered 
himself  into  notice.  Tradition  affirms  that  he  thus  came  to 
know  some  of  the  prominent  young  blades  of  the  city  and  that 
it  was  here  he  developed  the  manner  of  a  fine  gentleman  which 
impressed  those  who  met  him  in  later  years.  A  dignified  bear- 
ing and  exact  conduct  on  state  occasions  were  natural  to  him, 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  during  this  visit  to  Charleston 
he  first  saw  these  qualities  exemplified  and  felt  an  impulse  to 
act  accordingly. 

The  next  we  hear  of  him  he  has  decided  to  become  a  lawyer. 
It  is  pleasant  to  fancy  that  a  sight  of  the  great  men  of  the  city 
had  given  him  the  idea  that  there  was  something  greater  in 

>  Some  details  of  her  buriai  in  a  letter  from  J.  H.  Weatherspoon  to  Jackson,  April  16,  1825  (Jackson  Mss.), 
indicate  that  she  was  buried  "in  and  about  the  forks  of  the  Meeting  and  KiagsUeet  Koads,"  then  in  tbe 
taburbs  of  Charleston. 


12  ,   LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

life  than  being  the  leading  backwoodsman  of  his  vicinity,  and 
that  he  determined  to  attain  it.  He  was  conscious  that  it  was 
the  frontier,  however,  that  offered  most  opportunities  to  a  man 
without  fortune  or  family,  and  he  turned  back  to  the  red-hill 
country  of  his  childhood.  There  were  lawyers  in  Charleston 
under  whom  he  might  read  law,  but  it  was  not  to  them  that  he 
went.  In  Morganton,  N.  C,  lived  Waightstill  Avery,  the  most 
influential  attorney  in  all  the  upper  country,  and  to  him  he 
first  appHed,  but  his  request  was  not  granted.  Then  he  went 
to  Salisbury,  where  he  joined  a  class  of  students  under  Spruce 
Macay,*  a  lawyer  of  local  note.  Thus  it  was  that  in  the  year 
1784,  in  the  old  colonial  town  of  Sahsbury,  when  he  was  seven- 
teen years  old,  that  Andrew  Jackson  found  a  profession  and  sat 
down  to  master  as  much  of  it  as  the  people  of  the  backwoods 
thought  necessary. 

It  was  not  a  very  great  deal  of  time  that  he  gave  to  his  law- 
books. Tradition  is  our  only  guide  for  this  period,'  and  it  speaks 
chiefly  of  wild  escapades;  of  horse-racing,  cock-fighting,  and 
gambhng  for  board-bills  vv^ith  his  landlord.  "He  was,"  said  an 
old  resident  after  the  former  student  had  become  famous,  "the 
most  roaring,  rolHcking,  game-cocking,  card-playing,  mischievous 
fellow  that  ever  lived  in  Salisbury."  Macay's  instruction  was 
pieced  out,  just  why  does  not  appear,  by  that  of  John  Stokes, 
and  in  spite  of  the  time  given  to  carousing,  the  law  course  was 
at  length  completed.  He  finally  settled  at  Martinsville,  in 
Guilford  County,  North  Carolina,  and  awaited  cHents.  Novem- 
ber 12,  1787,  he  was  at  the  court  in  the  neighboring  county  of 
Surry  as  the  following  entry  in  the  court's  records  shows: 

"William  Cupples  and  Andrew  Jackson,  Esquires,  each  pro- 
duced a  Hcense  from  the  Hon.  Samuel  Ashe  and  John  WilHams, 


'  This  spelling  is  justi  Qed  by  Macay's  own  signature. 

'In  1844  Jackson  said  in  his  early  years  he  knew  the  Polks  intimately.  Now  this  was  the  most  prominent 
family  in  Mecklenburg  County  and  the  adjoining  region;  and  the  inference  is  that  his  early  position  must  have 
been  as  good  as  the  North  Carolina  frontier  afforded.     See  Am.  Eistl.  Mag.  (Nashville),  III.,  188. 


EARLY  YEARS  13 

Esquires,  two  of  the  Judges  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Law  and 
Equity,  authorizing  and  empowering  them  to  practice  as  attor- 
neys in  the  several  County  Courts  of  Pleas  and  Quarter 
Sessions,  within  this  State,  with  testimonials  of  their  having 
hitherto  taken  the  necessary  oaths,  and  are  admitted  to  practice 
in  this  Court." ' 

With  this  our  young  gentleman  was  launched  in  a  professional 
career.  Clients  were  none  too  abundant,  and  tradition  says 
that  he  served  a  while  as  constable  in  lack  of  some  more  remun- 
erative employment.  At  Martinsville  were  two  of  his  friends, 
Searcy  and  Henderson,  united  in  a  mercantile  partnership,  and 
he  was  thrown  into  close  relations  with  them.  It  is  even  possible 
that  he  gave  certain  assistance  in  the  business.  The  court- 
house of  Surry  was  then  at  a  place  called  Richmond,  and  two 
facts  in  connection  with  Jackson's  visits  there  have  come  down 
to  us  in  a  reliable  way:  Once  he  stopped  at  a  tavern  kept  by 
Jesse  Lister,  who  claimed  later  that  Jackson  did  not  pay  his 
board-bill,  and  it  has  long  been  a  tradition  that  Lister,  in  181 5, 
wrote  against  the  account,  "Paid  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans." 
It  is  certain  that  after  the  inn-keeper's  death  his  daughter  pre- 
sented the  bill  to  Jackson,  who  was  then  President  and  who 
refused  to  pay  it  on  the  ground  that  he  did  not  owe  it.  He  based 
his  opinion  on  the  fact  that  it  had  ever  been  his  custom  to  pay 
such  bills  promptly,  and  he  asked  why  Lister  had  not  presented 
it  in  his  life-time,  saying  that  it  might  have  been  done  easily 
in  1788,  when  he  passed  Lister's  house  on  his  way  to  Tennessee.' 
The  other  slight  view  of  his  life  here  is  in  a  statement  from 
Cupples  himself,  who  in  1795,  wrote  to  Jackson  in  regard  to  a  note 
which  was  given,  presumably  by  Jackson,  to  settle  the  balance  of  a 
gambling  debt  at  Richmond.'  Thus  we  see  that  Jackson  began 
life  quite  like  himself  in  the  law  courts  of  North  Carolina. 

*  Surry  Court  Records,  1787. 

'Lewis  Williams  to  Jackson,  February  2,  and  endorsement,  1832,  Jackson  Mss. 

•William  Cupples  to  Jackson,  Aug.  19,  i7gSt  Jackson  Mss. 


14  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

It  is  impossible  to  say  how  much  practice  these  early  months 
brought  him;  for  no  record  of  his  practice  survives.  If  it  were 
nothing  at  all,  it  was  still  as  much  as  could  have  been  expected 
of  a  boy,  still  less  than  twenty-one  years  old,  who  had  no  friends 
but  those  he  made.  He  doubtless  knew  little  law;  but  many  a 
lawyer  who  was  not  versed  in  legal  principles  has  succeeded 
through  successful  personality,  and  in  this  respect  Jackson  was 
strong.  Gamble  as  he  might,  he  had  a  straightforward  way  of 
dealing  which  ever  made  him  friends;  he  was  bold,  he  had  the 
faculty  of  leading,  he  was  just  to  a  fault,  he  did  not  countenance 
double-dealing,  and  he  spoke  his  mind  frankly.  These  qualities 
made  him  friends  in  this  first  year  of  waiting  in  North  Carolina, 
and  out  of  this  initial  success  grew  the  confidence  which 
gave  him  the  second  advance  in  his  career,  his  Tennessee 
appointment. 


CHAPTER  II 

EARLY  CAREER  IN  TENNESSEE 

When  Jackson  began  to  practise  law,  the  portion  of  North  Caro- 
ina  which  lay  west  of  the  Alleghanies  was  being  settled  in  two 
communities.  In  its  eastern  part  many  people  were  living  on 
the  Watauga,  Holston,  NoUichucky,  and  French  Broad  Rivers 
as  far  westward  as  the  neighborhood  of  Knoxville.  Two  hun- 
dred miles  beyond  them,  in  the  rich  Cumberland  Valley,  was 
another  group  of  adventurers,  whose  centre  was  Nashville,  but 
it  extended  up  and  down  the  river  for  nearly  eighty-five  miles. 
In  1790  its  population  was  five  thousand  and  it  was  organized 
into  three  counties,  Davidson  —  with  Nashville  for  the  county- 
seat —  Sumner,  and  Tennessee.  The  region  between  these 
two  settlements  was  a  wilderness,  so  infested  by  hostile  In- 
dians that  when  the  national  government  in  1788  opened  a  road 
through  it,  a  guard  was  established  to  go  its  entire  length  twice 
a  month  for  the  protection  of  travelers.  The  soil  along  the 
Cumberland  was  more  fertile  than  that  of  the  mountains,  and 
it  was  destined  to  support  after  a  time  a  more  prosperous  and 
influential  society.  Tennessee  was  thus  divided  into  two  sec- 
tions, each  of  which  was  apt  to  be  suspicious  of  the  motives 
of  the  other;  and  the  ability  of  the  future  political  leaders 
was  frequently  taxed  to  secure  harmonious  action  between 
them. 

The  Cumberland  colony  was  established  in  1779,  under  the 
leadership  of  two  remarkable  men,  James  Robertson  and  John 
Donelson;  and  in  spite  of  many  difficulties  it  grew  rapidly.  The 
chief  danger  was  Indians,  whom  the  British,  before  the  treaty  of 

IS 


i6  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

peace  in  1783,  and  the  Spanish,  after  that  time,  incited  to 
attack  the  exposed  American  frontier.  The  whites  retali- 
ated with  true  Western  spirit.  The  national  government 
was  then  pressing  Spain  for  a  treaty  and  gave  orders 
that  peace  should  be  preserved  on  the  Spanish  borders.  But 
the  Tennesseeans  were  not  willing  to  see  their  homes 
devastated.  Bands  from  the  east  marching  under  John 
Sevier  in  1793,  and  bands  from  the  west  marching  under 
James  Robertson  in  1794,  delivered  two  blows  which  reduced 
the  savages  to  a  respectful  state  of  mind.  In  1795  Spain 
yielded  the  long  desired  treaty  and  opened  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Americans.  Great  results  came  from  these  events, 
but  the  people  could  not  forget  the  perils  through  which  they 
had  passed,  and  it  was  many  a  day  before  they  ceased  to  hate 
both  Spaniards  and  Indians. 

In  1788,  when  the  first  struggle  for  existence  was  won,  but 
before  complete  safety  was  secured,  the  assembly  of  North  Caro- 
lina erected  a  superior  court  district  out  of  the  three  counties 
on  the  Cumberland  and  called  it  ''Mero.'"  Over  this  district  John 
McNairy,  one  of  Jackson's  fellow  law-students  at  Salisbury, 
was  appointed  judge.  The  new  tribunal  was  a  court  of  law 
and  equity,  with  jurisdiction  above  that  of  the  county  court, 
and  it  was  to  meet  at  regular  intervals  in  each  of  the  counties. 
McNairy  set  out  for  Tennessee  in  the  spring  of  1788,  and  induced 
Jackson  to  accompany  him  in  order  to  see  the  country.  They 
proceeded  leisurely,  reached  the  settlements  on  the  Holston  in  a 
few  weeks,  loitered  there  till  autumn,  and  then  passed  over  the 
new  road  to  Nashville.  Although  Jackson  had  not  come  as  a 
settler,  profitable  business  was  immediately  thrust  upon  him. 
The  one  established  lawyer  whom  he  found  in  the  place  was 
retained  by  a  combination  of  debtors  who  were  thus  able  to 

^Laws  of  North  Carolina,  1785,  Chap.  47,  and  1788,  Chaps.  28  and  31:  they  maybe  ioundintht  State  Records 
of  North  Carolina,  XXIV,  973  and  975.  "  Mero  "  is  an  incorrect  spelling  forl"Miro,"  the  name  of  the 
governor  of  New  Orleans. 


EARLY  CAREER  IN  TENNESSEE  17 

laugh  at  their  creditors.  The  latter  turned  gladly  to 
Jackson,  who  prosecuted  boldly  and  successfully.  His  clients, 
most  of  them  merchants,  were  from  that  time  his  warm 
friends  and  supporters.'  To  this  success  was  added,  in  1789, 
the  solicitorship  in  McNairy's  jurisdiction  with  a  salary 
of  forty  pounds  for  each  court  he  attended.'  Thus  it 
happened  that  he  determined  to  throw  in  his  fortune 
definitely  with  the  new  community.  Prosperity  followed  the 
decision.  Fees  and  salary  were  soon  converted  into  land 
whose  value  rose  with  the  settlement  of  the  country,  and 
eight  years  after  his  arrival  he  was  one  of  the  wealthy 
men    of    that    region. 

When  Jackson  arrived  at  Nashville,  John  Donelson,  one  of 
the  two  leaders  of  the  first  colony,  was  already  dead,  a  sacrifice 
to  the  red  man's  vengeance,  and  his  widow  was  taking  boarders. 
The  new  lawyer  became  one  of  her  household  and  eventually 
her  son-in-law.  So  much  was  afterward  said  about  this  mar- 
riage that  its  history  must  be  presented  here  with  some 
detail. 

Rachael  Donelson,  daughter  of  the  pioneer,  was  married  to 
Lewis  Robards,  of  Kentucky,  a  man  of  dark  and  jealous  dispo- 
sition who  succeeded  in  making  her  life  miserable.  She  is  de- 
scribed as  a  woman  of  a  lively  disposition,  by  which  is 
meant  that  she  was  not  that  obedient,  demure,  and  silent 
wife  which  some  husbands  of  the  day  thought  desirable. 
By  common  report  she  was  entirely  innocent  of  wrong-doing 
and  finally  was  forced  by  the  cruelty  of  her  husband  to 
return  to  Nashville,  where  she  lived  with   her   mother   when 


'This  story  f  ollowsParton  (1 ,  1 35 ) .  When  Gov.  Blount  organized  the  territory  in  1 7go,  he  licensed  the  lawyers 
anew.  Those  mentioned  in  Davidson  County  are  given  in  the  following  order:  Josiah  Love,  John  Overton, 
A.  Jackson,  D.  Allison,  H.  Tatum,  J.  C.  Mountflorence,  and  James  White.  These  were  probably  named  by 
seniority  of  residence.  We  know  that  Overton  arrived  about  the  same  time  as  Jackson.  Josiah  Love,  there- 
fore, must  have  been  the  protector  of  the  creditors.     SesAm.  Histl.  Mag.  (Nashville),  II,  232. 

-Reid  and  Eaton,  Jackson  is'  Parton,  Jackson,  I.,  Chaps,  ic,  ii,  and  12;  also  Jackson's  petition  to  the 
Tennessee  le^latuie,  Apr.  11,  i7g6,Jackson,  Mss. 


i8  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

Jackson  appeared  in  the  town.  A  short  time  later  friends 
intervened  and  succeeded  in  reconciling  the  couple,  so  that 
Robards  came  to  Nashville  and  also  became  an  inmate  of  the 
Donelson  home. 

For  a  time  all  went  well,  but  at  length  the  old  suspicions 
returned.  All  Nashville  was  singing  the  praises  of  the  young 
solicitor,  Mrs.  Robards  included,  and  the  jealous  husband  chose 
to  make  this  the  ground  of  new  charges.  So  open  were  his 
reproaches  that  the  boarders  soon  learned  the  situation  as 
thoroughly  as  the  unhappy  wife  herself.  Thus  the  knowledge 
of  it  came  to  Jackson,  whose  habit  ever  was  to  settle  difficulties 
face  to  face  with  his  opponents.  He  had  an  interview  with 
Robards  and  sought  to  convince  him  that  the  suspicions  against 
Mrs.  Robards  were  unfounded.  But  the  husband  took 
an  injured  air  and  refused  to  be  convinced.  Jackson 
became  angry,  and  the  affair  assumed  a  worse  state  than 
ever.  Robards  stormed  at  his  wife,  swore  at  Jackson,  and 
rode  away  to  Kentucky  never  to  return,  vowing  that  he 
would  have  a  divorce. 

The  solicitor  was  now  in  genuine  distress.  He  was  by  nature 
exceedingly  chivalrous  and  bore  himself  toward  women  with  a 
protecting  deference  which  made  them  all,  even  the  fine  ladies 
of  New  Orleans  and  Washington,  his  warm  friends.  For  such 
a  man  the  situation  in  which  he  found  himself  was  calculated 
to  create  within  him  the  feeling  which  he  had  just  been  falsely 
accused  of  having.  The  state  of  his  emotions  reached  a  crisis 
in  the  following  autumn,  the  year  was  1790,  when  a  report  came 
that  Robards  was  coming  to  claim  his  wife.  At  this  Jackson 
confessed  to  his  friend  Overton  that  he  was  a  most  unhappy 
man  and  that  he  loved  Mrs.  Robards.  She  returned  his  affections, 
and  when  later  in  the  year  she  set  out  for  Natchez  in  company 
with  a  family  friend,  in  order  to  escape  the  threatened  force 
of  her  husband,  Jackson  went  along  as  a  protector  through  the 


EARLY  CAREER  IN  TENNESSEE       19 

wilderness.     In  the  foUowing  summer  news  came  to  NashviUe 
that  the  legislature  of  Virginia  had  granted  a  divorce  to  Robards, 
Kentucky  not  yet  being  a  state.     The  news  went  rapidly  down 
the  river  to  Natchez,  and  in  the  same  summer  the  soUcitor 
followed  it.     A  few  weeks  later  he  returned  bringing  Rachael 
Robards  as  his  wife.     They  settled  thirteen  miles  from  NashviUe 
on  a  beautiful  plantation  called  "  Hunter's  Hill,"  and  for  two 
years  Hfe  went  smoothly.     But  in  December,  1793,  came  news 
that  Robards  was  suing  in  a  Kentucky  court  for  divorce  on  the 
ground  that  his  wife  had  lived  for  two  years  in  adultery  with 
Andrew  Jackson.     It  then  transpired  that  no  divorce  had  been 
granted   in    1791,   but    that   the    Virginia    legislature    merely 
gave  Robards  the  right  to  sue  for  a  divorce  in  a  Kentucky  court. 
Up  till  a  recent  time  no  suit  was  instituted,  Jackson  had  acted 
precipitately,  and  the  charge  that  Mrs.  Robards  was  living  in 
adultery  was  technically  true.     On  this  state  of  facts  the  court 
readily  gave  Robards  the  liberty  he  sought.    Nothing  remained 
for  the  surprised  couple  at "  Hunter's  Hill "  but  to  have  a  second 

ceremony.' 

Years  later  it  was  the  habit  of  his  political  enemies  to  say  that 
Jackson  ran  away  with  another  man's  wife.  During  the  pres- 
idential campaign  of  1828  this  charge  was  freely  circulated, 
and  Jackson's  friends  in  Nashville  pubUshed  the  refutation  in 
full  with  affidavits.  It  is  from  this  source  that  later  biographers 
have  drawn  their  story.  By  this  means  their  subject  is  reUeved 
from  the  imputation  of  wicked  intent  but  not  from  that  of  pro- 
fessional inefficiency.  As  a  lawyer  he  should  have  known  that 
it  was  not  usual  at  that  time  for  either  the  Virginia  or  North 
CaroUna  legislature  to  grant  a  divorce  outright,  but  that  the 
law  provided  just  that  course  which  Robards  had  followed. 
Had  Jackson  been  acting  only  as  a  lawyer  for  a  client,  he  would 
at  least  have  read  the  Virginia  statute  before  setting  out  for 

•For  the  story  as  told  by  Overton  see  Parton,  Jackson,  i,  148-15$. 


20  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

Natchez,  and  the  casual  perusal  of  it  would  have  shown  him  the 
true  state  of  the  case.' 

Never  was  divorce  better  justified  by  the  results.  His  de- 
votion to  his  wife  was  the  gentlest  thing  in  the  turbulent  life 
of  the  husband:  her  pathetic  affection  for  him  in  return  for  his 
loyalty  raised  the  rather  prosaic  life  of  the  wife  quite  to  the 
level  of  the  poetic.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  goodness  of  heart, 
benevolence,  and  religious  fervor;  but  she  was  by  endowment 
and  by  training  the  intellectual  inferior  of  her  husband.  Her 
strongest  quality  was  her  religion,  which  in  her  case  was  pervasive, 
effusive,  and  serious.  Although  Jackson  was  irreligious  in  early 
life,  her  piety  made  a  deep  impression  on  him;  and  in  her  old 
age  it  consoled  her  much  to  know  that  he  was  a  believer 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  She  herself 
was  highly  esteemed  for  her  good  intentions,  and  her 
husband's  friends,  knowing  his  tenderness  for  her,  frequently 
closed  their  letters  to  him  by  commending  themselves  to 
her  favor. 

Jackson's  marriage  identified  him  with  an  influential  family 
connection;  for  John  Donelson  was  a  leading  citizen  in  his 
day,  and  his  many  sons  and  daughters  shared  his  popularity. 
Among  them  our  strong-willed  solicitor  took  place  as  a  leader. 


lit  was  not  till  1827  that  Virginia  passed  a  general  law  to  regulate  granting  divorces.  It  then  authorized 
divorce  a  vinculo  for  impotency,  idiocy,  and  other  natural  incapacity,  and  divorce  a  mensa  et  thoro  for  adultery, 
etc.,  both  to  be  granted  in  the  court  of  chancery.  Divorces  might  still  be  had  for  other  grounds  from  the 
assembly,  and  the  law  provided  that  investigations  should  be  had  beforehand  in  the  county  court  and  the 
verdict  should  be  referred  to  the  legislature,  where  the  divorce  might  be  granted.  (Act  of  February  17,  1827.) 
The  first  general  law  of  divorce  in  North  Carolina  was  enacted  in  1816.  By  it,  the  court  could  grant  divorce 
for  natural  incapacity,  but  for  other  causes  there  must  be  a  prior  investigation  in  the  nature  of  a  suit  in  the 
courts,  and  the  matter  must  be  referred  to  the  assembly  before  the  court  decision  was  final.  Laws  of  1816, 
Chapter  928;  1818,  Chapter  968;  and  1819,  Chapter  1007.  Before  the  adoption  of  these  general  laws,  the 
method  was  by  appeal  to  the  legislature  only,  and  the  custom  was  general  for  the  case  to  be  referred  to  a- 
court  for  ascertaining  the  facts.  All  the  presumption,  both  from  Jackson's  experience  under  North  Car- 
olina law  and  from  what  he  ought  to  have  known  about  Virginia  custom,  was  against  tlie  supposition  that  a 
divorce  outright  was  given  in  Virginia.  The  Virginia  assembly  acted  on  Robards's  petition  on  December  20 
1790.  It  authorized  "Roberts"  to  have  a  divorce  from  his  wife  "Rachel,"  by  suit  in  the  supreme  court  of 
Kentucky,  the  writ  to  be  published  for  eight  weeks  successively  in  the  Kentucky  Gazette,  and  "if  defendant  does 
not  appear  within  two  months  after  publication,  the  case  may  be  set  for  trial  but  postponed  for  cause,  and 
if  the  court  finds  that  the  wife  has  deserted  her  husband  or  is  living  in  adultery,  the  marriage  is  to  be 
dissolved."     See  Henning,  Statutes,  XIII.,  227. 


EARLY  CAREER  IN  TENNESSEE       21 

He  gave  them  in  time  as  much  as  they  gave  him.  The  Donel- 
sons  were  but  easy-going  English  people  and  dropped  behind  in 
the  strenuous  struggle  of  the  day;  while  Jackson's  Scotch-Irish 
spirit  ever  drove  him  forward.  He  was  the  soul  of  generosity, 
and  denied  them  no  favor  or  service.  Some  he  took  into  busi- 
ness partnerships;  to  some  he  gave  military,  and  to  others  civil, 
office;  some  he  sent  to  school;  for  others  he  acted  as  guardian 
during  their  minority;  and  one  he  adopted,  giving  him  his  name, 
but,  unfortunately,  not  his  capacity/ 

A  sister  of  Mrs.  Jackson  married  Colonel  Robert  Hays,  who 
was  a  revolutionary  soldier  and  became  one  of  the  most  reliable 
men  of  the  community.  He  was  till  the  end  of  a  long  life  a  firm 
friend  of  General  Jackson,  and  many  letters  which  survive  show 
that  he  was  a  useful  counselor  and  a  worthy  gentleman.  A  niece 
of  Mrs.  Jackson  married  John  Coffee,  a  man  great  of  body  and 
of  heart,  and  a  splendid  frontier  soldier  who  served  Jackson  and 
his  country  well  in  the  Creek  and  New  Orleans  campaigns. 

Jackson  had  now  encountered  three  interesting  stages  of 
American  society.  In  Charleston  he  met  the  most  formal  phase 
and  knew  that  it  had  no  welcome  for  a  man  like  him:  in  Salisbury 
lie  found  the  settled  and  regular  life  of  the  up-country  farmers 
and  saw  that  its  welcome  was  strained:  in  Nashville's  newly 
formed  society  he  met  the  charity  of  the  frontier  which  receives 
talent  without  questions.  He  accepted  its  confidence  and  be- 
came a  leading  citizen.  New  responsibilities  sobered  him  to  an 
extent,  and  something  of  the  old  rollicking  manner  was  laid  aside. 
But  Nashville  was  not  very  exacting  in  this  respect.  It  allowed 
him  to  retain,  it  even  approved  of,  many  habits  which  to-day  it 
pronounces  uncouth.  He  fought  cocks,  raced  horses,  gamed  if 
he  felt  like  it,  quarrelled  frequently,  held  himself  ready  to  fight 


'In  184s,  a  correspondent  sent  Jackson  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Jackson's  mother,  Rachael  Donelson.  From  it, 
we  see  that  the  writer  was  the  youngest  of  eleven  children,  that  she  was  from  Accoinac  County,  Virginia,  and 
that  her  family  were  people  of  moderate  circumstances.     See  A.  T.  Gray  to  Jackson,  March  19,  1845,  Jacksou 

Mss. 


22  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

duels,  and,  when  the  occasion  arose,  indulged  in  oaths  which  were 
the  acme  of  profanity.  None  of  these  things  by  the  standards 
of  the  place  made  a  man  less  a  gentleman.  They  rather 
added  to  his  standing;  and  inasmuch  as  Jackson  excelled  in  all 
of  them  his  standing  was  secure.  His  horses  were  the  fastest, 
his  cocks  were  the  most  noted,  he  would  quarrel  with  none  but 
men  of  distinction,  and  his  great  oaths  became  the  despair  of 
the  young  braggarts  of  the  valley. 

In  appearance  he  was  tall,  slender,  and  very  erect.  His  face 
was  pale;  his  eyes,  which  were  very  blue,  were  also  very  intense; 
and  above  a  high  and  narrow  forehead  rose  a  mass  of  stiff  hair 
which  was  too  brown  to  be  sandy  and  too  light  to  be  auburn. 
His  chin  was  clear-cut  and  square,  but  without  heaviness,  his 
mouth,  always  his  best  feature,  was  large,  and  his  lips  were  of  that 
flexible  kind  which  emphatically  express  on  occasion  extremes 
of  benevolence  or  anger.  He  bore  himself  with  the  air  of  a  man 
who  was  his  own  master.  In  a  trade  he  would  announce  his 
terms  without  hesitation,  and  the  other  party  might  accept 
or  reject  at  once.  His  opinions  were  formed  and  expressed  with 
the  same  celerity. 

In  the  courts  of  the  day  such  a  man  appeared  to  advantage. 
Offenders  were  apt  to  be  turbulent  and  often  they  were  supported 
by  bands  of  associates  who  made  the  life  of  a  prosecuting 
attorney  both  unpleasant  and  perilous.  Jackson's  physical 
courage  was  equal  to  his  moral  courage,  and  he  loved  justice. 
He  loved  also  to  feel  that  no  one  thwarted  his  purpose,  and  in 
the  courts  his  purpose  was  to  be  a  good  solicitor.  His  speeches 
were  brief  and  not  much  interrupted  by  taking  up  law-books; 
but  they  were  filled  with  feeling  and  common  sense.  Bad  gram- 
mar, bad  pronunciation,  and  violent  denunciation  did  not  shock 
judge  or  jury  nor  divert  their  minds  from  the  truth.  His  cases 
were  rarely  postponed  to  suit  the  convenience  of  lawyers.  When 
he  left  the  court,  his  docket  was  apt  to  be  clean,  and  he  was 


EARLY  CAREER  IN  TENNESSEE  23 

likely  to  carry  with  liim  the  esteem  of  the  law-abiding  and  the 
respect  of  evil-doers. 

Many  years  later  this  vigorous  young  lawyer  became  a  na- 
tional figure.  The  qualities  which  in  the  beginning  of  his  career 
gave  him  preeminence  in  the  backwoods  now  seemed  eccentric- 
ities to  the  more  cultured  East.  They  became  the  basis  of  a 
thousand  anecdotes  which  were  told  by  his  enemies  and  friends. 
Parton,  his  best  biographer,  has  repeated  many  of  them,  led  on, 
as  it  seems,  by  the  tendency  to  write  things  which  only  amuse. 
Other  writers  have  followed  Parton,  and  thus  it  happens  that 
Jackson's  shadow  falls  across  written  history  as  a  grotesque  em- 
bodiment of  violence,  prejudice,  and  political  inefficiency.  But 
history  is  not  to  be  written  from  caricature;  and,  if  we  are  to 
understand  the  personality  before  us,  we  must  look  beyond 
the  entertaining  stories  told  about  him,  stories  which  are  some- 
times exaggerations  and  sometimes  made  to  take  a  meaning  more 
pecuhar  to  the  mind  of  the  narrator  than  to  that  of  him  about 
whom  they  were  told.  Probably  the  best  means  of  knowing  the 
man,  aside  from  his  eccentricities,  is  to  remember  always  his 
manner  of  meeting  his  problems  in  the  early  and  simple  days 
of  the  Cumberland  frontier.  The  foundation  of  his  career  was 
laid  in  those  days  when  he  rode  from  court  to  court  in  West 
Tennessee  as  public  prosecutor.  It  was  then  that  the  people 
came  to  have  confidence  in  him  and  he  learned  the  art  of  leading 
them.  When  he  secured  promotion  it  came  from  the  hands  of 
as  democratic  a  people  as  ever  lived.  Solicitor  under  state 
authority  at  twenty-two.  United  States  attorney  at  twenty- 
three,  member  of  congress  at  twenty-nine,  United  States  senator 
at  thirty,  justice  of  the  supreme  court  of  Tennessee  at 
thirty -one,  and  major-general  of  militia  on  a  dangerous 
frontier  at  thirty  -  five  —  accident  or  personal  favoritism 
could  not  have  been  responsible  for  such  a  career  among 
such   a   people. 


24  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

While  Jackson  was  judge  occurred  the  incident  of  the  arrest 
of  the  felon,  Bean.  It  was  often  told  by  his  friends  and  acquired 
such  embellishment  from  their  hands  that  Jackson  in  his  old  age 
thought  proper  to  write  a  correct  account,  possibly  for  Kendall's 
biography.  From  that  it  appears  that  Jackson  on  the  bench 
learned  that  Bean  was  resisting  authority  and  ordered  his  arrest. 
The  sheriff  tried  but  reported  that  he  was  defied.  The  judge 
ordered  him  to  summon  a  posse.  In  a  short  time  he  reported 
that  the  posse  was  defied.  Then  Jackson  rebuked  him  asking 
how  he  would  account  to  the  country,  but  did  not,  as  has  been 
said,  ask  the  sheriff  to  summon  him.  Shortly  afterward  court 
adjourned,  and  the  three  judges  were  walking  to  their  dinners 
when  the  sheriff,  smarting  from  his  rebuke,  summoned  them  as 
a  posse.  Two  of  them,  Campbell  and  Roane,  put  themselves 
on  their  dignity  and  refused,  but  Jackson  agreed  to  act.  He 
armed  himself,  approached  Bean,  and  said  he  would  shoot  him 
down  if  he  did  not  surrender.  The  latter  said  he  would  submit 
but  was  afraid  of  the  people,  but  when  assured  he  should  have 
no  harm  from  that  source  he  surrendered  to  Jackson,  who  handed 
him  over  to  the  sheriff.  The  incident  shows  Jackson  at  his  best, 
in  enforcing  order  against  violent  men.' 


iThe  statement  is  in  the  Jackson  Mss.  without  signature  or  date  and  in  the  hand  of  a  copyist.     It  has  an 
endorsement  in  Kendall's  hand. 


CHAPTER  III 

EARLY  PUBLIC  SERVICE 

By  an  act  of  May  26,  1790,  congress  organized  the  country 
between  the  Ohio  and  the  present  states  of  Alabama  and  Miss- 
issippi as  "The  Territory  of  the  United  States  Southwest  of 
the  Ohio  River,"  and  in  September,  1790,  Wilham  Blount,  of 
North  Carolina,  became  its  governor.  The  name  was  too  long 
for  ordinary  use  and  the  people  shortened  it  into  "Southwest 
Territor>^,"  by  which  it  was  in  the  future  generally  called.  In 
1 791  the  northern  half  of  the  territory  became  the  state  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  Blount's  jurisdiction  was  limited  to  the  southern  half. 
The  government  of  this  region  was  modeled  after  that  of  the 
Northwest  Territory,  by  which  it  might  expect  to  have  a  territo- 
rial legislature  when  it  contained  five  thousand  adult  male  inhab- 
itants and  to  become  a  state  when  its  total  population  was 
sixty  thousand. 

Governor  Blount  sought  to  substitute  his  authority  for  that 
of  North  CaroHna  with  as  little  friction  as  possible,  and  for 
that  reason  he  continued  in  office  as  many  as  possible  of  the  old 
officials.  He  recognized  the  dual  nature  of  the  territory  by 
organizing  anew  Washington  District  in  the  east  and  Mero  in 
the  west;  and  these  subdivisions  served  for  the  bases  of  judicial 
and  military  organization.  John  McNairy,  Jackson's  old  friend, 
was  continued  territorial  judge,  and  James  Robertson  was 
made  commander  of  the  militia  with  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general.  Jackson  was  appointed  attorney-general  for  Mero  with 
duties  like  those  he  discharged  under  the  old  authority.      For 

2S 


26  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

emergency  service  a  cavalry  regiment  was  organized  in  each 
district,  and  over  the  Mero  regiment  Robert  Hays  was  placed 
with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.  Thus  the  power  of  the 
United  States  was  established  in  what  was  destined  to  be  the 
state  of  Tennessee.  A  year  later,  September  lo,  1792,  Jackson 
received  his  first  military  office  when  Blount  made  him  "judge- 
advocate  for  the  Davidson  Regiment."  It  was  not  a  prominent 
place,  and  it  was  no  doubt  conferred  chiefly  because  he  was  a 
lawyer;  but  it  identified  him  with  a  calling  for  which  he  was  by 
nature  eminently  fitted  and  in  which  he  was  to  perform  his  most 
signal  services. 

In  1793  the  "Southwest  Territory"  took  its  first  step  toward 
statehood  by  establishing  a  territorial  legislature.  Two  years 
later  it  opened  the  way  for  the  second  step  by  ordering  that  a 
census  of  the  population  should  be  taken,  and,  if  the  returns 
should  show  sixty  thousand  inhabitants,  directing  the  governor  to 
call  a  constitutional  convention.  The  enumeration  indicated  a 
population  of  seventy-six  thousand,  blacks  and  whites;  and 
January  11,  1796,  five  delegates  met  from  each  of  the  eleven 
counties  to  prepare  a  frame  of  government.  For  such  a  purpose 
the  community  put  forward  its  best  men;  and  among  those  who 
went  from  Davidson  County  were  Jackson,  McNairy,  and  General 
Robertson.  In  the  convention  the  burden  of  the  business  was 
entrusted  to  a  committee  of  two  from  each  county,  who  were 
appointed  to  prepare  the  scheme  of  a  constitution.  The  two 
members  of  this  committee  from  Davidson  were  Jackson  and 
McNairy,  whom  we  must  regard  as  the  intellectual  men  of  the 
delegation.  McNairy  took  prominent  part  in  the  debates,  but 
Jackson,  who  was  never  a  debater,  said  but  little.  Tradition 
declares  that  he  suggested  the  name  Tennessee  for  the  proposed 
state,  and  he  seconded  an  amendment  by  which  ministers  of  the 
gospel  were  allowed  to  hold  any  office  except  member  of  assembly. 
The  convention  soon  completed  its  labors  and  adjourned  leaving 


EARLY  PUBLIC  SERVICE  27 

the  assembly  which  it  created  to  put  the  new  state  government 
into  operation.  It  fixed  March  28,  1796,  as  the  day  for  the  ex- 
piration of  the  territorial  government,  and  it  declared  that  if 
congress  did  not  accept  the  state  as  an  equal  member  of  the 
sisterhood,  Tennessee  should  continue  to  exist  as  an  indepen- 
dent state. 

In  this  the  people  of  Tennessee  were  acting  on  the  basis  of  a 
supposed  right  to  statehood,  which  they  thought  was  implied 
in  the  act  by  which  congress  received  North  Carolina's  cession  of 
the  whole  region.  In  the  absence  of  precedents  for  the  creation 
of  states  out  of  territories  their  view  was  probably  not  unnat- 
ural; but  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  it  originated  partly 
in  that  spirit  of  defiance  to  national  authority  which  had  long 
been  strong  in  the  West,  and  which  did  not  entirely  disappear 
till  the  collapse  of  Burr's  projects. 

But  congress  was  not  inclined  to  admit  the  contention  of  the 
Tennesseeans.  To  allow  the  people  of  a  territory  to  meet  of 
themselves  and  set  aside  the  authority  which  ruled  them  was  a 
loose  way  of  exercising  the  function  of  government.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  surprising  that  when  the  newly  elected  senators  pre- 
sented themselves  in  Philadelphia  in  the  spring  of  1796,  while 
party  feeling  over  the  execution  of  the  Jay  treaty  ran  high,  they 
should  have  received  cold  welcome.  Tennessee  was  strongly 
repubHcan,  the  country  was  about  to  elect  a  President,  and  it  was 
natural  for  the  question  of  right  to  be  viewed  through  partisan 
spectacles.  The  republicans  argued  that  the  senators  from  the 
new  state  ought  to  be  admitted,  but  the  federahsts  declared  that 
they  could  have  no  recognition  until  congress  authorized  the 
territory  to  change  itself  into  a  state.  The  house  was  carried 
by  the  republicans  in  favor  of  admission,  but  the  senate  went 
with  the  federalists  and  refused  to  concur.  Finally,  on  June  i, 
1796,  as  congress  was  about  to  adjourn,  the  federalists  relented 
and  recognized  Tennessee  as  a  state.     The  delay  produced  bad 


28  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

feeling  among  the  people  of  the  new  state,  who  attributed  the 
action  of  the  federalists  to  the  worst  motives. 

In  the  change  into  statehood  there  were  many  offices  to  be 
filled,  most  of  them  by  the  legislature.  It  was  thus  that  senators, 
governor,  and  high  administrative  officials  were  chosen.  But 
there  was  a  single  office  which  depended  upon  the  suffrages  of 
all  the  people,  and  in  the  nomination  of  various  persons  to  vari- 
ous posts  the  leaders  reserved  it  for  Jackson,  probably  because 
he  was  strong  with  the  people:  this  was  the  one  member  of  the 
national  house  of  representatives.  To  this  office  Jackson  was 
triumphantly  elected,  and  on  December  5,  1796,  he  took  his  seat 
in  the  congress  at  Philadelphia. 

The  contrast  of  life  between  Nashville  and  the  Pennsylvania 
city  was  a  sharp  one.  In  the  former  Jackson  was  easily  a  leader : 
in  the  latter  he  was  less  at  home.  Unfortunately,  no  friend  has 
told  us  of  the  impression  he  made  on  his  associates,  but  his  oppo- 
nents had  better  memories.  From  one  of  them  we  learn  that  he 
was  regarded  as  a  grave  backwoodsman,  his  hair  done  up  in 
queue  with  an  eel  skin,  and  his  clothes  fitting  badly  on  his  long 
body.  Another  —  it  was  Jefferson  himself  —  said  that  he  had 
violent  passions  and  that  when  he  attempted  to  make  a  speech 
he  was  unable  to  go  on  with  it  because  he  "choked  with  rage.'" 
With  certain  allowances  for  the  exaggerations  of  an  enemy,  the 
charge  was  probably  well  founded.  Jackson  felt  too  strongly 
to  express  himself  in  extempore  speeches;  but  ready  speech- 
making  is  not  essential  to  political  success.  Jefferson  himself 
did  not  have  it,  but  by  political  management  he  was  the  con- 
troling  power  of  a  great  party.  Jackson  also  ruled  a  great  party, 
not  by  speech-making  nor  by  political  management,  as  Jefferson, 
but  by  the  force  of  his  personality. 

In  congress  he  gravitated  toward  that  group  of  extreme  repub- 


'The  informant  was  Gallatin.     See  Hildreth,  History  of  the  United  Slates,  IV.,  692.     See  also  Webster 
Private  Correspondence,  I.,  371. 


EARLY  PUBLIC  SERVICE  29 

licans  which  was  led  by  Macon  and  Randolph.  Letters  are 
preserved  indicating  that  he  was  on  intimate  terms  with  its 
leading  members. 

The  draft  of  a  letter  dated  October  4,  1795,  and  probably- 
written  to  Macon,  shows  what  his  political  views  then  were. 
"What  an  alarming  situation,"  he  said,  "was  the  late  negoti- 
ation of  Mr.  Jay  with  Lord  Granville,  and  that  negotiation  (for  a 
Treaty  of  Commerce  it  cannot  be  called,  as  it  wants  reciprocity) 
being  ratified  by  the  Two  thirds  of  the  Senate  and  president  has 
plunged  our  country  in;  will  it  end  in  a  Civil  war;  or  will  our 
country  be  retrieved  from  this  present  [situation]  by  the  firm- 
ness of  our  representatives  in  Congress  (by  impeachments  for 
the  daring  infringements  of  our  Constitutional  rights)  have  the 
insulting  cringing  and  ignominious  Child  of  aristocratic  Secracy; 
removed  Erased  and  obliterated  from  the  archives  of  the  Grand 
republic  of  the  United  States.  I  say  unconstitutional;  because 
the  Constitution  says  that  the  president  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  senate  are  authorized  to  make  Treaties,  but  in 
the  present  Treaty  the  advice  of  the  senate  was  not  required  by 
the  president  previous  to  the  Formation  of  the  Treaty;  nor  the 
Outlines  of  the  said  Treaty  made  known  to  the  senate  until  after 
made  and  their  Consent  wanting  to  make  it  the  supreme  law  of 
the  land  (therefore  made  without  the  advice  of  the  senate  and 
unconstitutional)  and  erecting  courts  not  heard  of  in  the  consti- 
tution, &c.  all  bills  for  raising  a  revenue  to  originate  in  the  house 
of  representatives  by  treaty. 

"  It  is  not  only  unconstitutional  but  inconsistent  with  the  law 
of  Nations,  Vattel  B2,  P242,  S3 2 5  says  that  the  rights  of  Nations 
are  benefits,  of  which  the  soveriegn  is  only  the  administrators, 
and  he  ought  to  Dispose  of  them  no  farther  than  he  has  reason  to 
presume  that  the  Nation  would  dispose  of  them  therefore  the 
president  (from  the  remonstrance  from  all  parts  of  the  Union) 
had  reason  to  presume  that  the  Nation  of  America  would  not  have 


so  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

ratified  the  Treaty,  notwithstanding  the  20  aristocratic  Neebobs 
of  the  Senate  had  consented  to  it."'  Crude  as  this  draft 
is,  the  reader  and  not  the  biographer  ought  to  determine 
how  much  allowance  should  be  made  for  the  carelessness  of 
its  preparation.  After  all  proper  deductions  are  made  on  this 
score  it  must  still  mark  the  author  of  it  as  a  man  of  ill- 
formed  and  untutored  political  judgment. 

Two  days  after  Jackson  took  his  seat  in  congress  Washington 
made  before  that  body  his  last  annual  address,  the  tone  of  which 
was  mildly  partisan.  The  committee  of  the  house  which  pre- 
pared an  answer  went  a  little  further  in  the  same  spirit,  and  the 
submission  of  their  report  to  the  house  was  the  signal  for  criti- 
cisms from  the  republicans.  They  objected  to  being  made  to 
declare  that  they  approved  of  the  measures  of  Washington's 
administration,  and  they  strove  hard  to  secure  an  amendment 
which  would  soften  the  words  of  the  report  into  a  form  more 
nearly  non-committal.  In  this  they  failed :  some  of  them  had  not 
the  courage  to  vote  at  last  against  the  commendation  of  Wash- 
ington, but  twelve  extreme  repubhcans  held  out  to  the  last, 
voting  against  the  resolutions.  One  of  them  was  Andrew  Jackson 
and  another  Edward  Livingston,  then  of  New  York.  It 
demands  some  explanation  to  show  why  the  well-born 
New  Yorker  remained  obdurate  against  what  he  considered 
the  aristocratic  tendencies  of  Washington,  but  none  is  needed 
to  show  why  the  fierce  Westerner  resented  the  popular  idea 
that  the  Father  of  his  Country  was  too  sacred  to  be  attacked 
in  any  of  his  opinions.  Livingston  was  a  republican  by  theory, 
but  Jackson  was  one  by  environment  and  by  every  instinct  of 
his  nature. 

In  his  short  stay  in  Philadelphia  Jackson  made  a  good  impres- 
sion on  the  leading  republicans.     From  the  few  letters  of  this 


'See  the  Jackson  Mss.    See  also  Jackson  to  Overton,  January  32,  February  3,  33,  March  6, 1708:  Copy 
in  Library  of  Congress. 


EARLY  PUBLIC  SERVICE  31 

period  which  have  been  preserved  we  see  that  he  continued  after 
he  retired  from  congress  to  correspond  in  famihar  terms  wdth 
such  men  as  Stevens  Thompson  Mason  and  Henry  Tazewell, 
of  Virginia,  and  Nathaniel  Macon,  of  North  CaroHna.  "We 
often  wish  you  back,"  wrote  Mason  in  1798/  and  from  Macon 
several  very  friendly  letters  are  preserved,  some  of  them  written 
before  Jackson  was  a  congressman."  This  confidence  must  have 
been  based  on  his  strong  personality  as  much  as  on  the  fact  that 
he  represented  the  opinion  of  West  Tennessee. 

Although  he  did  not  distinguish  himself  on  the  floor  of  con- 
gress, Jackson  secured  the  passage  of  two  measures  which  made 
him  popular  in  Tennessee.  One  was  a  bill  to  place  a  regiment 
on  the  southern  border  of  the  state  for  protection  against  In- 
dians :  the  other  was  a  bill  to  pay  those  who  took  part  in  Sevier's 
unauthorized  Nickajack  expedition  of  1793.  As  to  the  latter, 
the  executive  refused  to  pay  the  claim  on  the  ground  that  it 
would  require  special  authority  from  congress  to  do  so.  Jackson 
promptly  introduced  the  necessary  resolution,  and  the  debate  on 
it  became  sharp.  His  own  speech,  in  the  contracted  form  used 
in  the  "Annals  of  Congress,"  appears  respectable.  One  point 
in  it  was  characteristic  of  the  speaker.  If  this  vote  was  refused, 
said  he,  the  discipline  of  the  militia  would  be  destroyed: 
the  private  soldier  ought  not  to  have  to  determine  the  authority 
of  the  officer  who  called  him  into  the  field:  it  was  his  to  obey, 
and  if  the  call  was  illegal  the  soldier  should  not  have  to  suffer 
for  the  error  of  his  superior  by  losing  his  pay.  In  this  debate 
Jackson  was  on  his  feet  four  times,  and  no  less  a  leader  than 
Madison  rose  in  his  behalf.  Finally  the  resolution  was  referred 
to  a  select  committee,  of  which  Jackson  was  chairman.     The 


'Mason  to  Jackson,  April  37,  and  May  25.  1708,  Jackson  Mss.  Tazewell  to  Jackson,  July  ao,  1798; 
Ibid;  Macon  to  Jackson,  January  17,  1796,  February  14,  iSoo,  January  12,  1801,  Ibid;  John  McDowell  to 
Jackson,  April  26,  1798,  Ibid. 

'When  Jackson  began  to  win  victories  in  the  Creek  campaign,  Macon  stood  sponsor  for  him  in  Washington 
&nd  told  the  world  who  be  was.     Benton,  View,  I.,  116. 


32  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

report  was  in  favor  of  paying  the  claim,  and  congress  gave  its 
approval  without  a  division.'  For  a  new  member  who  had  no 
special  gifts  in  speaking  the  achievement  was  respectable. 

The  wave  of  popularity  which  followed  his  first  session  in  con- 
gress brought  him  in  1797  an  election  to  the  United  States  senate.' 
To  the  floor  of  the  more  dignified  house  he  went  with  personal 
reluctance,  for  he  was  little  suited  to  the  formal  methods  of  that 
body.  One  session  was  all  he  could  bring  himself  to  endure. 
He  was,  in  fact,  fitted  neither  by  talents  nor  inclination  for  a 
legislative  body.  Moreover,  his  private  business  demanded 
his  attention,  and  in  the  spring  of  1798  he  resigned  the  office  to 
which  he  had  been  elected  and  accepted  a  judgeship  of  the  state 
supreme  court.  The  latter  position  suited  liis  tastes  better  than 
the  former,  and  he  held  it  for  six  years.  The  manner  of  life 
which  it  entailed  was  much  like  that  which  the  attorney-general- 
ship involved:  there  were  the  same  riding  of  circuit,  the  same 
variety  of  experience,  the  familiar  faces  of  old  lawyer  friends, 
and  the  ever  recurring  excitement  of  settling  the  perplexing 
affairs  of  the  community.  Into  the  fife  Jackson  fitted  easily 
and  happily.  He  had  many  of  the  qualifications  of  a  good  judge. 
He  was,  no  doubt,  but  little  versed  in  the  law;  but  he  had  common 
sense,  integrity,  courage,  and  impartiality.  Only  one  of  his 
decisions  has  been  preserved,  and  that  is  an  unimportant  one. 
Tradition  asserts,  says  Parton  that  they  were  "short,  untech- 
nical,  unlearned,  sometimes  ungrammatical,  and  generally  right." 
So  highly  was  he  esteemed  as  a  lawyer  that  one  of  the  prominent 
business  men  of  west  Tennessee,  on  hearing  the  rumor  that  he 
would  retire  from  the  bench,  wrote  at  once  to  retain  him  for  all 
his  business  and  expressed  the  hope  that  he  might  succeed  to 


*AimaIs  of  4th  congress,  2nd  session,  1738,  1742,  174.6. 

'For  the  desire  to  combine  the  East  and  the  West,  Cocke  and  Jaclison,  in  this  canvass,  see  Robertson  to  Cocke 
August  I,  1797,  American  Eistorical  If ogazmc, (Nashville),  IV.,  344.  He  succeeded  Cocke  and  not  Blount, 
as  is  sometimes  said.     See  Garrett  and  Goodpasture,  Tetmessee,  338. 

aParton,  Jackson,  I.,  227. 


EARLY  PUBLIC  SERVICE  33 

all  the  practice  of  G.  W.  Campweli,  a  good  lawyer  who  was  just 
elected  to  congress/  The  news  that  he  was  finally  to  resign 
brought  protests  from  many  prominent  people,  among  them 
General  Robertson;  and  a  petition  is  preserved  to  the  same  effect 
with  the  signature  of  forty-three  prominent  citizens  attached. 
Further  evidence  of  his  success  on  the  bench  is  found  in  the 
general  apprehension  that  if  he  left  it  Judge  Hugh  L.  White, 
the  only  other  member  of  the  court,  in  whom  the  state  had  high 
confidence,  would  also  feel  impelled  to  leave.  These  points 
are  mentioned  to  show  with  what  acceptability  he  fiUed  the 
office  of  judge.  It  was  July  24,  1804,  that  his  resignation  of 
the  judgeship  was  accepted  by  the  Tennesse  legislature.' 

It  happened  that  at  this  time  a  governor  was  to  be  appointed 
for  the  newly  established  Orleans  Territory.  The  Tennessee 
senators  and  representatives  signed  a  request  that  Jackson 
have  the  place,  and  Matthew  Lyon,  whose  expulsion  in  1798 
distressed  Jackson  greatly,  added  his  name  to  the  petition. 
The  appointment  went  to  W.  C.  C.  Claiborne,  but  Jackson's 
endorsement  by  the  entire  state  delegation  shows  how  great 
was  his  influence  at  the  time.  Among  the  papers  preserved  in 
regard  to  the  affair  is  a  letter  from  one  Henderson  who  declared 
that  the  applicant  was  a  contentious  man,  that  he  was  indicted 
for  assault  and  about  to  be  arrested  for  breach  of  the  peace. 
In  view  of  other  endorsements  this  must  be  taken  as  the  out- 
burst of  personal  pique.  Jackson  was  then  an  admirer  of  Macon 
and  Randolph  and  his  failure  to  get  the  office  he  sought  con- 
firmed his  opposition  to  Jefferson.  In  1809  he  was  the  leader  of 
Monroe's  cause  in  Tennessee.' 

Six  years  on  the  bench  was  calculated  to  withdraw  him  from 

'Mark  Armstrong  to  Jackson,  August  ig,  1803,  Jackson  Mss. 

'In  the  first  published  volume  of  Tennessee  Reports,  1813,  only  eight  cases  are  reported  for  the  period  before 
September,  1804,  when  Jackson  was  on  the  bench.  He  wrote  the  opinion  in  none  of  them.  They  are  all  very 
meager  reports  of  cases  from  Mero  district  and  seem  to  have  been  made  originally  by  the  reporter  Overton 
for  his  private  use. 

'See  American  Historical  Review,  III.,  283-7. 


34  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

active  participation  in  politics,  but  another  cause  operating  more 
powerfully  to  the  same  end  was  his  quarrel  with  John  Sevier,  the 
popular  hero  of  East  Tennessee.  This  affair  will  be  discussed 
in  another  chapter:  here  it  will  be  proper  to  remark  that  it 
made  Jackson  unpopular  with  Sevier's  many  friends  and  seri- 
ously lessened  his  political  strength  in  the  whole  state.  Even 
in  the  days  of  his  greatest  fame  he  had  many  enemies  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  state. 

When  Jackson  retired  from  the  bench  his  private  affairs  were 
in  a  serious  condition.  For  several  years  he  had  been  struggling 
beneath  a  heavy  financial  load  from  which  he  was  resolved  at  last 
to  rid  himself.  Like  all  the  men  of  means  of  his  community  he 
bought  much  of  the  cheap  public  land  of  the  first  days  of  settle- 
ment. In  1795  he  owned  jointly  with  his  friend,  John  Overton, 
as  much  as  twenty-five  thousand  acres.  In  that  year  he  went  to 
Philadelphia  and  sold  this  land  to  a  wealthy  man  named  David 
Allison,  receiving  for  his  own  share  notes  which  he  endorsed  and 
exchanged  for  a  stock  of  goods  preparatory  to  opening  a  general 
merchandise  store  in  Nashville.  He  was  hardly  at  home  before 
news  came  that  Allison  had  yielded  to  the  panic  which  was  then 
sweeping  over  the  country  and  that  the  notes  which  Jackson 
had  endorsed  were  held  against  him.  To  save  himself  from  a 
swarm  of  hungry  creditors  required  prompt  action,  and  he  knew 
it.  He  at  once  closed  out  his  store  for  thirty-three  thousand 
acres  of  land,  which  he  soon  sold  for  twenty-five  cents  an  acre, 
taking  for  it  a  draft  on  William  Blount,  then  United  States 
senator  from  Tennessee,  who  was  generally  esteemed  a  very 
rich  man.  He  hurried  to  Philadelphia  to  cash  the  draft  and  pay 
his  creditors,  only  to  find  that  Blount  himself  was  embarrassed 
through  Allison's  failure.  By  the  greatest  exertion  he  managed 
to  pay  his  notes  as  they  became  due,  but  in  doing  so  he  sacri- 
ficed much  of  his  property;  and  he  came  out  of  this  experience 
much  shorn  of  financial  strength. 


EARLY  PUBLIC  SERVICE  35 

His  rallying  power  was  great,  and  he  quickly  adapted  himself 
to  the  new  situation.  The  fine  estate  of  "Hunter's  Hill,"  on  which 
he  lived,  was  absorbed  in  the  general  disaster;  but  he  gave  it  up 
readily  and  moved  to  a  smaller  plantation  eight  miles  from  Nash- 
ville. It  was  then  mostly  unimproved  and  in  size  it  was  a  modest 
square  mile.  The  dwelling  on  it  was  built  of  logs  and  so  many 
of  his  slaves  were  sold  for  debts  that  it  was  difhcult  to  work 
it;  but  the  struggle  was  taken  up  bravely.  It  was  not  many 
years  before  the  farm  was  brought  into  excellent  condition,  a 
handsome  brick  house  was  built,  and  the  estate  —  for  it  was 
the  "Hermitage"  —  became  one  of  the  most  famous  in  America. 

His  affairs  settled  on  a  new  basis,  Jackson  returned  to  his 
plan  to  estabHsh  a  store.  At  Clover  Bottom,  on  Stone  River, 
four  miles  from  the  "  Hermitage,"  he  opened  a  general  merchan- 
dise business.  He  took  two  partners,  neither  of  whom  proved  an 
efficient  trader.  One  was  John  Coffee,  not  yet  married  to  Mrs. 
Jackson's  niece;  and  the  other  was  John  Hutchings,  himself  a 
relative  of  Mrs.  Jackson.  The  firm  dealt  in  all  kinds  of  goods, 
buying  of  the  inhabitants  their  produce,  their  lumber,  their 
horses,  and  even  their  slaves,  all  of  which  were  sent  down  the 
river  to  whatever  profit  Natchez  or  New  Orleans  could  offer.' 
His  partners  looked  regularly  after  the  business,  and  Jackson, 
when  he  was  home  from  his  courts,  rode  over  daily  and  served 
customers  as  though  he  were  not  a  member  of  the  highest  court  in 
Tennessee.  During  this  period  Mrs.  Jackson,  with  the  re- 
sourcefulness of  the  women  of  the  frontier,  took  chief  part  in 
the  supervision  of  the  farm,  and  the  tradition  long  survived  that 
she  did  it  exceedingly  well. 

Jackson  was  a  good  trader  in  large  transactions.  He  could 
with  his  frank  abruptness  sell  or  buy  lands,  slaves,  or  horses 
to  advantage.  But  he  was  not  so  successful  in  small  affairs.  In 
the  petty  bargaining  of  a  general  merchandise  store,  in  keep- 

ijackson  to  James  Jackson,  August  as,  iSig,  Jackson  Mss. 


36  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

ing  up  an  attractive  stock  of  goods,  and  in  the  little  tricks  by 
which  the  successful  merchant  humors  the  foibles  of  a  trading 
public  he  was  not  proficient.  Thus  it  happened  that  the  enter- 
prise at  Clover  Bottom  languished  for  a  while,  then  began  to 
be  unprofitable,  and  finally  was  so  unremunerative  that  he  was 
glad  to  sell  his  share  to  his  partners  for  notes-in-hand  which 
he  could  hardly  expect  them  to  pay.  This  occurred  after  he  was 
off  the  bench.  From  that  time  till  the  war  of  1812  he  occupied 
himself  with  farming;  and  in  that  respect  he  was  successful. 
General  Jackson  was  never  a  very  rich  man.  He  was  only  a 
prosperous  planter  and  slave-owner,  probably  a  little  too  prone 
to  make  business  ventures  which  he  was  not  careful  enough 
manager  to  bring  to  a  successful  issue.  Of  such  a  nature  was 
the  venture  in  merchandising  and  his  later  venture  in  Mississippi 
lands.  A  man  of  more  reliable  and  less  erratic  business  habits 
might  have  made  either  affair  a  success. 


CHAPTER  IV 

JACKSON  AND  BURR 

While  Jackson  was  merchant  and  planter  the  incident  oc- 
curred which  posterity  has  insisted  on  calhng  Burr's  Conspiracy. 
His  connection  with  it  is  important,  because  it  shows  with  what 
group  of  national  politicians  he  was  now  in  sympathy  and  be- 
cause it  reveals  his  complete  identity  with  that  new  and  self- 
asserting  West  which  burned  to  drive  Spain  from  the  northern 
shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Until  the  summer  of  1804,  Aaron  Burr  was  the  leader  of  a 
respectable  faction  of  New  York  republicans,  and  he  had  friends 
in  many  other  states.  He  was  opposed  to  Jefferson  on  personal 
grounds,  and  this  brought  him  into  touch  with  the  group  of  ex- 
treme republican  theorists  who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  more 
practical  policy  of  the  President.  He  had  ability,  daring,  and 
personal  magnetism,  but  those  who  knew  him  well  felt  that  he 
lacked  sincerity  and  was  far  too  anxious  to  triumph.  His  duel 
with  Hamilton,  July  11,  1804,  ended  for  the  East  a  career  which 
was  already  desperate;  and  he  turned  to  the  West  to  repair 
his  fortunes.  A  good  lawyer  and  still  in  his  prime,  he  might  have 
won  professional  success  and  finally  political  promotion  in  New 
Orleans  or  in  any  other  promising  Western  city,  had  he  been 
content  to  follow  a  steady  life.  But  he  was  not  a  quiet  man. 
He  was  by  temperament  an  adventurer,  and  the  West  was  to 
him  a  theatre  in  which  he  could  by  dash  and  sagacity  carry 
through  the  greatest  schemes.  He  would  test  its  possibilities 
and  win  political  control  of  some  new  colony,  state,  or  empire. 

37 


38  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

For  such  an  undertaking  money  and  men  were  necessary, 
and  he  had  neither.  His  son-in-law,  Governor  Alston, 
of  South  Carolina,  though  rich,  was  not  rich  enough 
for  so  vast  an  enterprise.  But  the  Western  situation 
was  such  that  Burr  thought  he  could  make  it  contribute  to 
his  ends.  Louisiana  had  recently  come  into  American  hands, 
much  to  the  disappointment  of  England,  Spain,  and  its  own 
ancient  inhabitants;  and  he  beheved  that  the  people  of 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  were  hostile  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States.'  He  thought,  therefore,  that  England 
would  lend  money,  arms,  and  probably  ships  to  check  the 
westward  expansion  of  the  United  States;  that  Spain  would 
give  aid  to  any  plan  which  would  stay  our  approach  to  her 
Mexican  border,  and  that  the  foreign-born  people  of  Louisi- 
ana, not  yet  reconciled  to  American  dominion,  and  the 
dissatisfied  population  of  the  upper  valley,  would  furnish 
men  to  overthrow  an  authority  which  they  were  believed 
to  disdain.  It  was,  moreover,  impossible  for  him  to  win 
the  support  of  either  party  to  the  plot  without  concealing 
his  purpose  from  the  other  parties  to  it.  As  a  result,  so 
many  stories  of  his  plans  were  put  into  circulation  that 
posterity  has  had  difficulty  in  determining  what  was  his 
real  object. 

Burr's  first  move  was  to  appeal  to  England,  He  won 
over  Anthony  Merry,  the  British  minister  in  Washington. 
Then  he  sent  an  agent  to  London  where  a  fair  hope  of 
success  was  unexpectedly  defeated  by  changes  in  the 
ministry  which  brought  into  the  foreign  office  Charles  James 
Fox,  ever  a  good  friend  to  the  United  States.  Next  he 
turned  to  Spain,  whose  American  representative  he  also 
fascinated;  but  the  government  in  Madrid  would  not  adopt 

•For  the  reluctance  with  which  the  people  of  the  Cumberland  approved  of  statehood  in  i  to(>.  see  Ramsay, 
Annals  oj  Tennessee,  648,  also  634. 


JACKSON  AND  BURR  39 

the  enterprise  nor  let  it  fail  entirely.  They  offered  Burr  a 
small  sum,  enough  to  keep  up  his  scheming,  but  not  enough  to 
carry  the  project  to  success. 

While  this  phase  of  the  scheme  was  progressing,  its  master 
mind  turned  to  the  West,  where  he  was  generally  popular. 
Ten  years  earlier  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  were  full  of  the  spirit 
of  revolt,  but  the  Spanish  treaty  in  1795,  and  the  acquisition  of 
Louisiana  in  1803,  dispelled  most  of  it.  In  1805,  the  country 
was  loyal,  although  some  restless  leaders  of  the  old  movement 
remained  in  the  region.  One  of  them  was  James  Wilkinson, 
commander  of  the  regular  troops  in  the  lower  Mississippi  Valley. 
He  was  tainted  with  nearly  all  the  treason  which  crossed  his 
path  during  a  long  life,  he  was  long  a  pensioner  of  Spain  while 
an  officer  of  the  United  States,  and  he  yielded  ready  consent 
to  Burr's  propositions.  He  was  more  experienced  in  sedition 
than  his  confederate,  and  the  future  was  to  show  that  he  knew 
better  the  proper  moment  for  abandoning  a  perilous 
adventure. 

In  the  West  Burr  talked  openly  of  a  plan  to  settle  a  colony 
on  a  tract  of  land  which  he  owned  on  the  Red  River.  To  the 
leading  Westerners  he  confided  that  at  the  first  declaration 
of  war  between  the  United  States  and  Spain  —  an  event  which 
was  generally  considered  more  than  probable  —  he  would  move 
on  Mexico  and  wrest  it  from  the  hands  of  Spain.  Most  of  his 
defenders  contend  that  this  was  his  real  purpose  and  that  it 
did  not  differ  from  many  other  filibustering  plans  against 
Mexico. 

Another  theory  is  that  Burr  conspired  with  Wilkinson  to 
the  end  that  they  should  unite  the  Western  adventurers 
which  the  one  should  raise  with  the  regulars  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  other,  and  by  cooperating  with  disaffected 
persons  in  Louisiana  set  on  foot  a  revolution  in  the  territory 

'William  Dicluon  to  Jackson,  March  4,  1803,  Jackson  Mss. 


40  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

newly  acquired  from  France.  It  was  on  the  ground  that 
this  was  his  real  purpose  that  Burr  was  later  tried  for  treason. 
Although  he  was  acquitted  because  of  the  ruling  of  the  court 
that  treason  must  be  an  overt  act  testified  to  by  two 
witnesses  —  v/hich  the  prosecution  could  not  substantiate 
—  posterity  and  most  of  the  people  of  the  day  believed 
that  the  charge  was  just. 

In  all  his  negotiations  Burr  lied  so  much  that  it  is  useless  for 
the  historian  to  try  to  discover  which  of  the  schemes  was  the 
true  one.  He  lied  to  the  British  minister  about  his  support  in 
the  West;  he  lied  to  the  Spanish  minister  about  his  failure 
with  the  British  minister;  and  he  hed  to  the  people  of  the  West 
as  it  suited  his  convenience.'  He  told  the  West  that  England 
was  supporting  him:  when  he  observed  their  hostility  to  Spain 
he  talked  about  taking  Mexico:  and  when  they  expressed  a 
desire  for  Mobile  he  dropped  hints  of  taking  Florida.  At  the 
same  time  he  told  Yrujo,  Spanish  minister,  not  to  be  alarmed 
at  rumors  of  an  attack  on  Mexico  or  Florida,  since  such  reports 
were  only  a  part  of  the  game.  To  the  politicians  of  the  West 
he  said  that  the  government  in  the  East  was  sure  to  dissolve. 
To  a  small  group  of  intimates  he  said  that  he  would  join  a  body 
of  Mexican  patriots,  overthrow  the  Spanish  authority,  and  make 
himself  king  of  Mexico.  His  beautiful  daughter,  Theodosia, 
dreamed  of  being  a  princess,  while  his  lieutenant,  the  enthusias- 
tic Blennerhassett,  exulted  in  the  prospect  of  representing  the 
new  state  in  England.  Burr  is  supposed  to  have  given  his  best 
confidence  to  Wilkinson,  but  for  all  their  correspondence  was 
in  cipher,  it  is  evident  that  he  did  not  reveal  to  his  confederate 
the  failure  to  get  money  in  England.  Thus  the  arch-schemer 
kept  the  centre  of  the  plot  in  his  own  hands,  communicating 

'Senator  Smith,  of  Tennessee,  wrote  to  Jackson  from  Washington,  January  3,  1807  (Jackson  Mss),  that  he 
had  seen  a  letter  from  Burr  to  Clay,  stating  that  he, Burr,  did  not  "own  a  single  boat,  musket,  or  bayonette, 
and  that  the  executive  of  the  United  States  arc  acquainted  with  his  object  and  view  it  with  complaiaance." 
Smith  added  that  Jefferson  denied  this  utterly. 


JACKSON  AND  BURR  41 

to  none  of  his  associates  more  than  was  necessary  to  forward 
the   project/ 

Burr  made  a  preliminary  visit  to  the  Mississippi  as  far  as 
New  Orleans  in  the  summer  of  1805  and  found  everything  to  his 
liking.  He  gave  the  following  winter  and  spring  to  efforts  to 
obtain  foreign  aid.  The  failure  to  get  it  was  a  severe  blow  and 
was  the  real  crisis  of  the  affair.  Wilkinson,  more  experienced 
in  treason,  recognized  it  and  prepared  to  withdraw;  but  Burr 
decided  to  take  the  gambler's  last  chance.  He  believed  that 
an  initial  success  would  rally  the  West  and  that  victory  would 
follow.  According  to  the  story  usually  accepted,  he  planned 
to  go  down  the  river  on  November  15,  1806,  with  one  thousand 
men,  join  Wilkinson  at  Natchez,  wait  there  until  the  legislature 
of  Louisiana  under  the  influence  of  the  Creoles,  should  declare 
independence,  and  then  occupy  New  Orleans  in  the  name  of 
the   revolutionists. 

As  November  1 5  approached,  difficulties  accumulated.  A  group 
of  federalists  in  Louisville  began  to  attack  him  in  a  newspaper, 
and  he  was  tried  for  treason  but  acquitted  through  the  efforts 

iBurr's  correspondence  with  English  and  Spanish  officials,  which  was  brought  to  light  by  Mr.  Henry  Adams, 
is  considered  evidence  that  he  intended  to  revolutionize  Louisiana,  and  in  this  view  the  Mexican  part  of  the 
scheme  is  pronounced  a  subterfuge.  But  Mr.  W.  F.  McCaleb  {The  Burr  Conspiracy,  1903),  thinks  that  the 
Mexican  project  was  the  real  one  and  that  the  foreign  negotiations  were  a  subterfuge.  The  historian's 
problem  is  not  that  of  the  court  at  Richmond.  He  is  concerned  to  know  if  Burr  had  a  treasonable  intent, 
while  the  trial  rested  on  the  commission  of  an  ovet  act.  To  prove  such  an  intent,  we  have  the  foreign  ne- 
gotiations and  particularly  the  request  that  England  would  send  a  ship  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  keep 
off  any  American  naval  force,  which  might  be  sent  against  Burr,  the  charges  of  Wilkinson  after  he  turned 
state's  evidence,  and  the  general  rumor  in  the  West,  that  Burr  was  going  against  New  Orleans.  On  the  other 
side  we  have  the  apparent  sincerity  with  which  many  of  his  supporters  held  to  the  Mexican  plan.  Most 
of  the  evidence  on  each  side  can  be  explained  away  on  the  ground  that  Burr  was  duping  somebody,  and  his 
character  is  so  doubtful  that  we  must  admit  that  he  was  capable  of  duping  everybody.  Thus,  we  are  almost 
justified  in  saying  that  it  is  impossible  to  determine  the  real  purpose  of  the  conspirators.  But  one  piece  of 
evidence  will  not  be  so  easily  disposed  of,  and  that  is  Wilkinson's  attitude,  not  his  assertion,  which  was 
certainly  unreliable.  If  any  persons  besides  Burr  knew  his  real  purpose,  Wilkinson  must  have  been  one 
of  them.  If,  therefore,  Wilkinson  knew  that  the  expedition  was  intended  against  Mexico,  which  was  legally 
3  misdemeanor,  why  should  he  have  alleged  that  it  was  intended  against  Louisiana,  which  was  legally  treason, 
a  more  serious  offence?  If  he  were  going  to  turn  state's  evidence  to  save  himself,  why  should  he  allege  a  more 
serious  offence  than  was  necessary,  one  which  he  knew  to  be  untrue  and  out  of  which  he  must  manufacture 
supporting  evidence  out  of  the  whole  cloth?  He  was  not  an  imbecile;  his  many  successful  intrigues  required 
a  certain  amount  of  mental  ability.  It  is  inexplicable  that  he  should  have  placed  himself  in  an  attitude,  which 
was  unnecessarily  perilous  to  himself. 


42  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

of  his  attorney,  Henry  Clay.  Moreover,  supplies  and  boats 
were  hard  to  obtain,  men  did  not  enlist  freely  where  so  much 
was  unexplained,  and  the  date  set  for  departure  passed  without 
a  movement.  In  the  meantime,  President  Jefferson  was  aroused 
to  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  He  sent  agents  to  the  West 
to  investigate  the  situation  and  to  use  their  efforts  to  check  the 
plotters.* 

In  October  Wilkinson  decided  to  desert  the  conspiracy.  He 
knew  that  Burr's  promises  to  take  an  equal  share  in  the  enter- 
prise were  futile.  If  it  succeeded,  it  must  be  through  the  aid 
which  it  would  derive  from  the  regular  troops.  He  would  not 
scorch  his  fingers  for  Burr's  chestnuts;  and  in  his  code  of  morals 
he  was  justified  in  renouncing  a  partner  whose  promises  were 
broken.  He  accordingly  sent  Jefferson  a  full  account  of  a  treason- 
able plot  which  he  said  he  had  discovered.  It  was  ingeniously 
written  to  cast  suspicions  on  Burr,  while  it  concealed  his  own 
complicity.'  Up  to  this  time  Jefferson  refused  to  treat  seriously 
the  rumors  from  the  West,  but  he  was  either  convinced  by  Wil- 
kinson's letter  or  considered  it  good  grounds  for  arresring  the 
adventurer.  He  sent  out  a  proclamation  for  the  apprehension 
of  all  plotters  of  treason,  but  without  calling  names,  and  a  short 
time  later  sent  orders  to  seize  the  members  of  the  expedition. 

When  this  proclamarion  reached  the  Cumberland,  Burr  was 
in  Nashville,  where  the  mercantile  firm  with  which  Jackson  was 
connected  was  preparing  for  him  boats  and  suppHes  and  where 
Patten  Anderson,  one  of  Jackson's  faithful  friends,  was  enhsting 
men.  Bending  every  effort  he  could  to  get  away,  he  was  able 
to  depart  at  the  first  intimation  that  he  was  about  to  be  arrested. 
He  reached  the  Ohio  with  but  a  handful  of  men  only  to  find  that 
the  states  of  Kentucky  and  Ohio  were  also  aroused  and  that 

«One  of  the  agents  was  Seth  Pease  dispatched  in  December  with  a  confidential  letter  from  Senator  Smith 
of  Tennessee.    See  Smith  to  Jackson,  December  19,  1806,  Jackson  Mss. 

•A  year  later  Governor  Claiborne  thought  Wilkinson  innocent.  See  Claiborne  to  Jackson,  December  3, 
i>07,  Jackson  Mss. 


JACKSON  AND  BURR  43 

he  must  flee  still  farther.  Gathering  all  the  strength  possible 
he  began  at  once  the  long  expected  voyage.  During  the  last 
week  of  the  year  he  passed  from  the  Ohio  to  the  Mississippi  and 
to  the  fate  which  awaited  him.  He  had  thirteen  boats  and  sixty 
men,  a  small  force  for  such  an  undertaking,  but  he  counted  on 
Wilkinson.  Near  Natchez  he  learned  that  this  was  a  false  hope 
and  attempted  to  escape  while  he  could.  He  was  arrested  at 
Fort  Stoddart  and  subsequently  tried  for  treason  at  Richmond, 
in  Virginia.' 

While  he  was  in  the  West,  Burr  made  four  visits  to  Nashville, 
the  first  beginning  on  May  29,  1805.  He  was  popular  there 
because  in  1796  he  worked  effectively  to  keep  the  federalists 
from  delaying  the  admission  of  Tennessee  into  the  union.  He 
must  have  met  Jackson  while  the  latter  was  a  member  of  congress 
from  1796  until  1798,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  knew 
much  of  each  other  at  that  time.  The  backwoodsman,  with  his 
hair  done  in  queue  with  an  eel  skin  was  not  apt  to  impress  the 
trained  New  York  lawyer.  When  the  two  men  met  on  the  Cum- 
berland the  case  was  different.  The  major-general  of  militia 
fitted  the  Tennessee  environment  better  than  that  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  Burr  now  found  him,  what  he  really  was,  a  man  of 
distinction  among  his  fellows.  During  this  visit  to  Nashville 
the  traveler  spent  five  days  at  the  "Hermitage"  before  he  con- 
tinued his  journey  to  New  Orleans.  Returning  northward 
he  came  on  August  6  for  a  second  visit  under  the  same  roof. 
The  people  of  Nashville  gave  him  a  pubhc  dinner  on  the  twelfth. 
It  was  a  notable  occasion,  and  the  prominent  people  of  the 
neighborhood  gathered  in  their  bravest  clothes  to  do  honor  to  the 
recent  vice-president  and  friend  of  Tennessee. 

Burr  was  pleased,  as  most  other  people  who  knew  him  were 
pleased,  at  Jackson's  qualities.     He  found  him,  as  he  said  in  a 

'For  fuller  accounts  of  Burr's  project,  see  Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  III.,  219-343,  and  441-471; 
and  McCaleb,  Aaron  Burr's  Conspirarcy. 


44  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

letter  to  his  daughter,  Theodosia,  "a  man  of  mtelHgence,  and 
one  of  those  prompt,  frank,  ardent  souls  whom  I  love  to  meet." 
When  the  two  men  parted,  their  relations  were  cordial.  No 
evidence  was  produced,  even  in  the  heat  of  political  controversy, 
to  show  that  they  plotted  treason.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  Burr  spoke  to  Jackson  of  an  impending  war  with  Spain 
during  which  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  wrench  from  her 
grasp  a  vast  territory  west  of  Louisiana.  Although  Jackson 
was  very  careful  to  preserve  the  most  trivial  papers  for  the  use 
of  his  biographer,  he  has  given  us  no  other  intimation  of  what 
Burr  said  to  him  than  that  it  was  not  treasonable.  His  strict 
sense  of  honor  would  explain  this  silence. 

Burr  was  good  enough  judge  of  a  man  to  recognize  Jackson's 
military  capacity.  He  knew  that  the  commander  of  the  militia 
in  West  Tennessee,  the  frontier  nearest  the  scene  of  future 
action,  held  a  position  only  less  important  than  that  of  Wilkin- 
son and  sought  by  every  possible  means  to  conciliate  him. 
After  his  departure  from  the  "Hermitage"  he  sent  several 
letters  to  his  host.  In  one  he  said  that  war  was  imminent  on 
account  of  the  Miranda  incident,  and  he  urged  his  correspondent 
to  prepare  to  act  promptly.  New  Orleans,  he  suggested,  would 
be  the  objective  of  such  a  war,  and  if  Jackson  would  send  a  list 
of  suitable  officers  for  two  regiments  he  would  in  case  of  hostilities 
be  able  to  get  them  accepted  and  commissioned  by  the  secretary 
of  war.  The  request  met  a  ready  acceptance.  This  gave  Burr 
valuable  information  for  the  organization  of  a  future  expedition, 
and  it  had  the  promise  of  added  local  influence  for  Jackson. 

In  September,  1806,  the  "Hermitage"  again  received  its 
illustrious  guest,  and  again  the  people  of  Nashville  were  called 
together  to  do  him  honor  in  a  public  dinner.  The  repetition  of 
this  demonstration  suggests  the  purpose  to  establish  the  visitor 
in  the  good  opinion  of  the  people.  Unusual  care  seems  to  have 
been  given  to  the  dinner.     At  the  proper  moment  the  doors 


ililllliillili 


JACKSON  AND  BURR  45 

opened  and  Burr  and  Jackson  entered  together,  the  latter  in 
full  militia  uniform.  Bowing  in  stately  manner  they  made  the 
round  of  the  room,  the  natives  looking  on  in  admiration.  It  was 
long  remembered  in  Nashville  that  the  dignified  bearing  of  their 
own  general  equaled  that  of  his  companion,  who  was  usually 
pronounced  one  of  the  most  correct  men  of  fashion  of  his 
day. 

From  this  reception  Burr  had  reason  to  think  that  his  affairs 
went  well  on  the  Cumberland,  and  a  few  days  later  he  returned 
to  the  Ohio.  November  3d,  he  sent  the  firm  of  which  Jackson 
was  a  member  an  order  for  five  boats  and  a  quantity  of  provi- 
sions. Money  in  advance  accompanied  the  order  and  the  firm, 
which  was  accustomed  to  fit  out  boats  for  the  river,  accepted 
the  commission. 

November  10,  1806,  as  Jackson  himself  relates,  a  friend  came 
to  the  "Hermitage"  and  revealed  the  outlines  of  a  scheme  to 
divide  the  union,  and  they  both  recognized  the  proposals  of  his 
recent  guest.  Until  that  time,  says  Jackson,  he  did  not  question 
the  statement  that  Burr  intended  to  settle  a  colony  on  his  Red 
River  lands  and,  in  case  of  war  with  Spain,  to  move  against 
Mexico.  But  he  was  now  alarmed  and  wrote  letters  of  warning 
to  the  governors  of  Tennessee  and  Louisiana  and  to  his  friends, 
Dickson  and  Smith,  in  Washington.'  He  took  the  further  pre- 
caution to  order  the  militia  to  be  ready  for  duty,  and  he  tendered 
his  and  their  services  to  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

He  wrote  also  to  Burr  demanding  the  truth  about  the  rumors 
in  circulation  and  received  such  a  positive  and  prompt  denial 
that  he  suspended  his  judgment,  saying  that  he  was  not  wilUng 
to  condemn  a  friend  on  mere  rumor.  Consulting  with  his  part- 
ners he  decided  that  the  contract  for  boats  and  provisions  must 
be  executed,  but  that  no  other  help  should  be  given.     It  finally 

'Jackson  to  Claiborne,  November  12, 1806;  Jackson  to  Dickson,  November  17, 1806;  Claiborne  to  Jackson, 
December  3,  1807;  Jackson  Mss.    The  first  is  in  Parton,  Jackson,  I.,  319. 


46  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

happened  that  Burr  needed  but  two  of  the  boats,  and  the  money 
advanced  for  the  others  was  returned  to  him. 

December  14,  Burr  made  his  fourth  visit  to  the  Cumberland, 
staying  now  at  a  tavern  at  Clover  Bottom,  where  the  store  which 
Jackson  and  his  partners  o-wned  was  located.  He  called  at  the 
"Hermitage"  in  the  absence  of  its  owner,  but  Mrs,  Jackson 
received  him  coldly.  When  her  husband  returned,  he  called  at 
the  tavern  in  company  with  his  friend,  Overton,  and  again  de- 
manded the  full  nature  of  Burr's  plans.  Again  he  received 
explicit  assurances  that  disloyalty  to  the  union  was  not  con- 
templated. 

Jackson's  fears  were  thus  quieted,  but  the  course  of  the  ad- 
venturer was  nearly  run.  Already  his  establishment  on  the 
Ohio  was  broken  up  and  the  President's  proclamation  against 
him  was  approaching  Nashville.  He  seems  to  have  had  some 
intimation  of  his  danger;  for  one  day  he  stole  away  in  his  two 
boats,  leaving  behind  him  seven  hundred  dollars  to  pay  Patten 
Anderson  for  services  in  getting  recruits.  A  few  hours  after 
he  was  gone  Jefferson's  orders  were  received.  The  people  were 
thunderstruck  when  they  learned  that  he  whom  they  were 
recently  covering  with  honor  was  suspected  as  a  lawbreaker. 
Public  opinion  now  rose  against  the  fugitive.  He  was  generally 
denounced  and  the  more  excitable  part  of  the  towTi  burned  him 
in  effigy. 

January  i,  1807,  Jackson  received  orders  from  the  President 
and  the  secretary  of  war  to  hold  his  command  ready  to  march 
and  to  arrest  Burr  if  possible.  He  called  out  the  militia  at  once 
and  sent  off  letters  of  warning  to  various  persons.  Visions  of 
a  great  expedition  down  the  river  began  to  float  before  him. 
To  Patten  Anderson  he  revealed  himself  rather  fully  in  a  letter 
of  the  fourth.*    He  wrote: 

I   received  your  note:    its  contents  duly   observed.      The 

iParton,  Jackson,  I.,  328. 


JACKSON  AND  BURR  47 

receipts  as  directed  I  have  retained.     The  negro  girl  named, 
if  likely,  at  a  fair  price,  I  will  receive. 

I  received  some  communications  from  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  War;  and  your  presence  is  required  at  my  house 
to-morrow  evening,  or  early  Monday  morning,  to  consult  on 
means  and  measures,  and  to  determine  the  latitude  of  the  au- 
thority. It  is  the  merest  old  woman  letter  from  the  Secretary 
that  you  ever  saw.  Your  presence  on  Sunday  eyening  will  be 
expected,  and  your  presence  on  Monday  morning  at  nine  o'clock 
can  not  be  dispensed  with,  you  must  attend.  I  have  sent  an 
express  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland  and  to  Massac  to  see 
and  hear  and  make  observations.  I  have  wrote  to  Captain 
Bissle;  from  information  received  at  the  moment  the  messenger 
was  starting  gives  me  reason  to  believe  that  Bissle  is  the  host 
of  Aaron  Burr.  Wilkinson  has  denounced  Burr  as  a  traitor, 
after  he  found  that  he  was  implicated.  This  is  deep  policy. 
He  has  obtained  thereby  the  command  of  New  Orleans,  the  gun 
boats  armed;  and  his  plan  can  now  be  executed  without  resist- 
ance. But  we  must  be  there  in  due  time,  before  fortifications 
can  be  erected,  and  restore  to  our  government  New  Orleans 
and  the  Western  commerce.  You  must  attend.  Give  to  those 
officers  that  you  see  assurances  that  all  volunteer  companies 
will  be  gratefully  accepted  of.  We  must  have  thirty,  thirty-jGive, 
or  forty  companies  into  the  field  in  fifteen  or  twenty  days; 
ten  or  twelve  in  four.  I  have  it  from  the  President,  I  have  it 
from  Dixon,  that  all  volunteers  will  be  gratefully  accepted. 
To-morrow  night  Winchester  will  be  with  me;  I  wish  you  there. 
The  Secretary  of  War  is  not  fit  for  a  granny.  I  fear  John  Ran- 
dolph's ideas  were  too  correct;  but  dubious  as  he  has  wrote, 
there  are  sufficient  authority  to  act?  Act  I  will,  and  by  the  next 
mail  I  will  give  him  a  letter  that  will  instruct  him  in  his  duty, 
and  convince  him  that  I  know  mine.  If  convenient,  bring  the 
girl  with  you;  and  health  and  respect. 

A.  Jackson. 

Compliments  to  Mrs.  Anderson.  I  must  tell  you  that  Bona- 
parte has  destroyed  the  Prussian  army.  We  ought  to  have  a 
little  of  the  emperor's  energy. 


48  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

The  Napoleonic  energy  to  which  this  letter  referred  was 
distinctly  a  characteristic  of  Jackson,  as  later  events  were  to 
prove.  But  in  this  case  it  turned  out  to  be  unnecessary.  In  a 
week  came  a  letter  from  Captain  Bissell,  whose  name  Jackson  mis- 
spelled, at  Fort  Massac  on  the  Ohio,  saying  in  a  tone  of  fine  irony: 

There  has  not,  to  my  knowledge,  been  any  assembhng  of 
men  and  boats  at  this,  or  any  other  place,  unauthorized  by  law 
or  presidency,  but  should  anything  of  the  kind  make  its  ap- 
pearance which  carries  with  it  the  least  mark  of  suspicion  as 
having  illegal  enterprises  or  projects  in  view  hostile  to  the  peace 
and  good  order  of  government,  I  shall,  with  as  much  ardor  and 
energy  as  the  case  will  admit,  endeavor  to  bring  to  justice  all 
such  offenders.  For  more  than  two  weeks  past  I  have  made 
it  a  point  to  make  m.yself  acquainted  with  the  loading  and  situa- 
tion of  all  boats  descending  the  river;  as  yet  there  has  nothing 
the  least  alarming  appeared.  On  or  about  the  31st  ult..  Colonel 
Burr,  the  late  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  passed  with 
about  ten  boats,  of  different  descriptions,  navigated  by  about 
six  men  each,  having  nothing  on  board  that  would  suffer  a  con- 
jecture more  than  a  man  bound  to  a  market;  he  has  descended 
the  river  towards  Orleans.  Should  anything  to  my  knowledge 
transpire  interesting  to  government,  I  will  give  the  most  early 
notice  in  my  power. ' 

From  this  as  well  as  from  the  report  of  his  special  messenger, 
Jackson  concluded  that  the  game  was  beyond  his  reach  and  sent 
the  militia,  who  had  responded  to  his  call  in  a  most  generous 
manner,  to  their  homes  again,  first  making  them  a  ringing  addresss 
which  officers  thought  it  advisable  to  have  published.  With 
this  the  Burr  incident,  so  far  as  Tennessee  was  concerned,  was 
passed. 

The  quick  and  strong  response  of  the  militia  shows  how  com- 
pletely Jackson  was  already  master  of  the  fighting  spirit  of  the 
frontier.     He  had  then,  as  in  his  later  military  and  political 

iParton, /acAjow,  I.,  323.    Jackson  replied  in  a  more  moderate  tone,  January  9,  1807,  Jackson  Mss. 


JACKSON  AND  BURR  49 

career,  a  group  of  lieutenants  who  believed  in  him.  They  im- 
bibed his  energy  and  accepted  his  authority.  And  he  was  al- 
ways their  master,  justifying  his  domination  by  his  power  to 
maintain  their  confidence  and  by  utilizing  it  to  accomplish  the 
most   important   objects. 

This  phase  of  the  Burr  incident  also  brings  into  view  that 
turbulent  egotism  which  for  Jackson  in  many  critical  periods 
was  a  source  of  weakness  as  well  as  of  strength.  In  this  case  it 
shows  a  man  who  could  seize  and  rule  a  complex  situation  without 
authority  to  do  so,  but  with  the  approval  of  the  community. 
As  a  militia  officer  he  had  no  power  to  give  orders  to  Bissell,  but 
he  thought  it  necessary  and  did  not  hesitate  to  assume  the  power 
needed.  In  whatever  position  he  was  thrown  he  was  apt  to 
take  the  place  of  leader,  both  by  reason  of  his  own  pretension 
and  through  the  acquiescence  of  others. 

A  still  better  illustration  in  point  is  his  attitude  toward  the 
secretary  of  war,  the  incompetent  Henry  Dearborn.  "By 
the  next  mail,"  said  he  in  the  letter  to  Patten  Anderson  given 
above,  "I  will  instruct  him  in  his  duty  and  convince  him  that 
I  know  mine."  and  he  was  as  good  as  his  word.  At  this  time 
war  with  England  and  Spain  was  generally  expected  and  from 
it  Jackson  fervently  hoped  he  would  get  the  opportunity 
to  begin  a  military  career.  His  thrust  at  Dearborn  was,  therefore, 
most  incautious;  for  no  ordinary  man  under  such  circumstances 
would  dare  the  wrath  of  the  superior  who  must  sign  his  first 
commission  in  the  regular  army. 

The  beginning  of  the  quarrel  was  as  follows:  One  of  the 
stories  which  Burr  told  to  secure  aid  was  that  he  had  the  support 
of  Jackson  and  the  Tennessee  militia.  Rumor  magnified  it 
till  in  Washington  it  was  asserted  that  Jackson  and  the  west 
Tennessee  militia  were  going  to  support  Burr.  The  secretary 
gave  too  ready  an  ear  to  the  report,  and  in  the  letter  which 
reached  Jackson  on  January  i,  1807  he  said:  " It  is  industriously 


50  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

reported  among  the  adventurers  that  they  were  to  be  joined 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland  by  two  regiments  under  the 
command  of  General  Jackson."  The  thrust  reached  the  Ten- 
nesseean  in  a  tender  part,  his  sense  of  honor. 

Morever,  this  was  not  Jackson's  first  quarrel  with  Dearborn/ 
In  1803,  Colonel  Thomas  Butler,  a  revolutionary  soldier  then 
serving  under  Wilkinson  in  New  Orleans,  was  arrested  on  a 
charge  of  disobedience  and  neglect  of  duty.  He  had  many 
friends  in  Nashville  who  came  to  his  defense,  alleging  that  the 
real  cause  of  the  arrest  v/as  Wilkinson's  desire  to  rid  himself 
of  an  honest  subordinate  who  would  not  tolerate  his  superior's 
treasonable  deahngs  with  the  Spaniards.  The  leading  man 
of  these  defenders  was  Jackson.  He  wrote  a  letter  of  protest 
to  President  Jefferson  and  later  forwarded  to  him  a  petition  from 
citizens  of  Nashville  in  behalf  of  Butler.'  None  of  his  efforts  were 
successful,  but  the  affair  convinced  him  that  Wilkinson  was  a 
scoundrel.  Jefferson  replied  that  Butler  was  arrested  for  ab- 
sence from  duty.'  When,  therefore,  Jackson  learned  the  promi- 
nent part  Wilkinson  was  taking  in  the  revelations  of  Burr's 
evil  doing,  liis  mind  reacted  against  the  whole  affair.  It  angered 
him  to  see  that  hypocrite  supported  by  the  secretary  of  war 
and  the  President,  and  the  imputations  now  received  from  the 
former  gave  him  an  opportunity  which  he  was  more  than  willing 
to  accept. 

Writing  to  the  secretary  on  January  8,  1807,'  he  sent  a  full 
account  of  the  steps  he  had  taken  to  arrest  the  conspiracy,  with 
copies  of  his  letters  to  Bissell  and  others,  and  added: 

The  first  duty  of  a  soldier  or  good  citizen  is  to  attend  to  the 
safety  and  interest  of  his  country:    the  next  to  attend  to  his 

ijackson  himself  thought  the  part  he  took  in  support  of  Butler  aroused  the  hostility  of  Dearborn.    Jackson 
to  Dearborn,  January  8,  1807,  "Supplement,"  Jackson  Mss. 

'Jackson  to  Jefferson  August  7,  1S03;  JacksDu  ani  othsrs  to  Jefferson,  December ,  1804  ;  Jefferson 

to  Jackson,  September  19,  i8o,?;  Jefferson  Mss.,  Library  of  Congress. 
'Jackson  Mss. 


JACKSON  AND  BURR  51 

own  feelings  whenever  they  are  rudely  or  wantonly  assailed. 
The  tenor  of  your  letter  is  such  and  the  insinuations  so  grating, 
the  ideas  and  tenor  so  unmilitary,  stories  allude  to,  and  inti- 
mations of  a  conduct,  to  stoop,  from  the  character,  of  a  general 
to  that  of  a  snarling  assassin.  (Then  hereafter)  I  will  sir  en- 
close you,  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Governor  Claiborne,  that  will 
shew  you  I  never  depart,  from  the  true  sense  of  duty  to  my 
country,  whenever  I  am  even  suspicious  of  its  injury. 

Health  and  respect, 
Andrew  Jackson. 

Through  the  broken  sentences  of  this  extract  one  sees  clearly 
the  strong  emotion  with  which  it  was  written.  In  what  he 
called  a  "supplement"  to  the  letter  of  January  8th,  he  found 
a  more  fluent  tongue,  saying: 

Col.  B.  received,  sir,  at  my  house  all  that  hospitality  that  a 
banished  patriot  from  his  home  was  entitled  to.  I  then  thought 
him  a  patriot  in  exile  for  a  cause  that  every  man  of  honor  must 
regret,  the  violence  with  which  he  was  pursued,  all  his  language 
to  me  covered  with  a  love  of  country,  and  obedience  to  the  laws 
and  your  orders.  Under  these  declarations  and  after  his 
acquittal  by  a  respectable  grand  jury  of  Kentucky,  my 
suspicions  of  him  vanished,  and  I  did  furnish  him  with  two 
boats,  and  had  he  wanted  two  more  on  the  same  terms  and 
under  the  same  impressions  I  then  had  he  should  have  had 
them.  But  sir  when  prooff  shews  him  to  be  a  treator,  I  would  ! 
cut  his  throat  with  as  much  pleasure  as  I  would  cut  yours  on  y 
equal  testimony.'  "^i 

This  spirited  protest  was  more  than  Dearborn  expected  from 
a  general  of  militia,  but  others  interfered  and  the  quarrel  went 
no  farther.'  f' 

But  friends  were  not  able  restore  to  Jackson  his  former  equa- 


'Jackson  Mss.    The  "Supplement"  is  in  Jackson's  hand,  but  crossed  over  in  such  a  way  as  to  suggest  that 
it  was  not  sent. 
*G.  W.  Campbell  to  Jackson,  February  6,  1807,  Jackson  Mss. 


52  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

nimity.  The  safe  refuge  which  Wilkinson,  equally  guilty  with 
Burr,  found  under  the  wing  of  the  administration  was  enough 
to  convince  his  suspicious  mind  that  Dearborn  and  probably 
Jefferson  had  collusive  knowledge  of  the  exploded  conspiracy. 
He  never  forgave  either  of  them;  and  when  he  was  summoned 
to  Richmond  as  a  witness  for  the  prosecution  he  came  so  full 
of  wrath  that  the  attorneys'  for  the  government  did  not  dare  put 
him  on  the  witness  stand.'  This  was  a  disappointment;  for 
he  expected  to  testify  to  things  which  would  put  Wilkinson  in 
a  very  uncomfortable  position.  With  characteristic  impetu- 
osity he  assembled  a  crowd  on  the  public  square  and  harangued 
them  against  Jefferson  to  his  heart's  content. 

From  that  time  he  was  entirely  out  of  sympathy  with  the 
administration.  "I  have  loved  Mr.  Jefferson  as  a  man,"  he 
said,  "and  adored  him  as  a  president.  Could  I  see  him  attempt 
to  support  such  a  base  man  with  his  present  knowledge  of  his 
corruption  and  infamy  I  would  withdraw  that  confidence  I 
once  reposed  in  him  and  regret  that  I  had  been  deceived  in  his 
virtues.  .  .  .  My  own  pride  is,  if  our  country  is  involved  in 
war  in  the  station  I  fill,  I  will  do  my  duty.  My  pride  is  that  my 
soldiers  has  confidence  in  me,  and  on  the  event  of  war  I  will 
lead  them  on  to  victory  and  conquest."'  A  month  later  John 
Randolph  introduced  into  congress  a  resolution  to  inquire  into 
the  alleged  treasonable  conduct  of  Wilkinson,  and  a  resultless 
investigation  was  made.  Randolph  was  not,  in  fact,  proceeding 
in  good  faith.  He  sought  to  embarrass  Jefferson  and  hoped  that 
the  revelation  of  a  plot  between  Spanish  officials  and  Wilkinson 
would  produce  such  a  popular  outburst  that  war  would  be  inevi- 
table and  that  this  would  be  accompanied  by  the  fall  of  the  advo- 
cates of  peace  who  then  controlled  Jefferson's  council.' 

'Jackson  was  sworn  and  ordered  before  the  grand  jury,  but  here  the  record  fails  us.     See  Robertson,  Report 
of  Trial  of  Burr,  I.,  312. 
•Jackson  to  Daniel  Smith,  Hermitage.  November  28,  1807,  Jackson  Mss. 
'McCaleb,   Burr  Cons\iraci,  334;    Attnals  of  :oth  Congrets,  i»t  lession,  Volumo  I.,  »as7.68,Iso6-lia8. 


JACKSON  AND  BURR  53 

But  Jackson's  purpose  was  simpler.  He  believed  that  Wil- 
kinson was  a  scoundrel  and  that  the  recognition  he  received  was 
a  disgrace  to  the  government.  He  lost  no  opportunity  to  un- 
cover the  treachery  which  he,  with  many  others,  believed  was 
concealed  within  the  records  of  the  general's  tortuous  career. 
In  January,  18 10,  he  learned  that  an  incriminating  correspond- 
ence between  Wilkinson  and  Michael  Lacassonge,  late  post- 
master at  Louisville,  was  in  St.  Louis  and  could  be  obtained  by 
the  government.  He  wrote  at  length  to  Senator  Whitesides, 
of  Tennessee,  enclosing  necessary  papers  and  urging  him  to  lay 
the  matter  before  the  President.  Lest  nothing  should  be  done 
in  that  quarter  he  sent  duplicates  to  John  Randolph  and  wrote 
a  letter  to  him  in  which  he  relieved  his  feelings.     He  said : 

It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  the  arm  of  government  has  been 
stretched  forth  to  shield  this  public  villain,  from  the  just 
publick  punishment  that  he  merits.  It  has  appeared  to  me 
that  the  closer  the  clouds  of  testimony  of  his  guilt  threted 
around  him,  the  more  the  respectability  of  his  answers;  the 
more  the  favors  of  government  were  heaped  upon  him;  and  by 
this  means  enquiry  crushed  and  truth  intimidated  and  from  the 
enclosed  you  will  see,  that  this  object  has  been  attained,  for  I 
believe  Capt.  OAllen  a  man  of  firmness,  and  a  patriot;  and  with 
what  solicitude  he  writes  and  expresses  himself  on  the  occurrence ! 
The  publick  mind  is  now  calm;  this  villain  of  corruption  and 
iniquity  must  be  draged  from  his  lurking  place,  and  unmasked 
to  the  world.  The  stain  that  the  government  of  our  country  has 
received  by  having  such  a  character  at  the  head  of  our  army 
must  be  washed  out  by  a  just  and  publick  punishment;  and  I 
fear  that  there  is  not  a  man  on  the  floor  of  congress  that  has 
firmness  and  independence  enough,  to  bring  forward  to  the  bar 
of  justice  this  once  favorite  of  presidential  care  but  yourself.' 

But  for  all  the  efforts  of  Jackson,  General  Wilkinson  continued 


ijackson  to  Whitesides,  Hermitage,  February  lo,  1810;  Jackson  to  Randolph,  Hermitage,  n.  d.,  but  awaar 
•ntly  of  same  date;  and  Capt.  Wm.  OAllen  to  Jackson,  January  10,  i8lo, — Jackson  Mss. 


54  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

to  enjoy  the  favor  of  Madison  as  he  formerly  enjoyed  that  of 
Jefferson. 

The  turn  which  the  Burr  incident  thus  took  placed  Jackson 
in  opposition  to  Jefferson  and  Madison.  In  1808  he  supported 
Monroe  in  Tennessee  and  ceased  his  efforts  only  when  informed 
that  to  continue  them  was  a  useless  expenditure  of  money  and 
influence.  His  course  identified  him  with  the  opponents  of  the 
regular  Virginia  politicians,  men  who  supported  Crawford 
in  the  contest  which  ended  in  1824;  and  the  result  was  that  his 
own  election  in  1828  involved  the  complete  overthrow  of  the 
Virginia  influence  in  the  republican-democratic  party. 

In  aU  the  later  criticism  of  political  enemies  no  evidence 
was  produced  to  show  that  he  was  privy  to  a  scheme  to  divide 
the  union.  His  clear  patriotism  is  revealed  in  all  his  conduct. 
^'I  love  my  country  and  government,"  he  said  to  Claiborne  at 
the  first  suggestion  of  treason,  "I  hate  the  Dons,  I  would  delight 
to  see  Mexico  reduced,  but  I  would  die  in  the  last  ditch  before 
I  would  yield  a  foot  to  the  Dons  or  see  the  union  disunited."' 
The  words  are  strong  and  passionate  but  they  have  the  ring 
of  sincerity. 

Jackson's  hostility  to  Wilkinson  was  well  known  in  Tennessee. 
Burr  must  have  heard  of  it,  and  knowing  it  he  would  hardly 
have  proposed  to  Jackson  a  scheme  which  depended  in  its  essen- 
tial parts  on  the  cooperation  of  the  general  at  New  Orleans. 
The  fact  that  Wilkinson  was  necessary  to  an  attempt  against 
Louisiana  goes  to  show  that  no  plans  to  that  end  could  have  been 
proposed  to  Jackson. 

'Jackson  to  Claiborne,  November  n,  1806,  copy  in  Jackson  Mss.     See  also  Parton,  Jackson  I,  3ig. 


CHAPTER  V 

EARLY  QUARRELS  AND  OTHER  ADVENTURES 

One  who  appreciates  the  many  good  quahties  of  General  Jack- 
son's character  may  well  wish  that  this  chapter  was  omitted; 
for  it  deals  with  matters  which  were  no  credit  to  him,  and  for 
which  the  best  apology  is  that  they  but  reflected  the  ideals  of 
the  community  in  which  he  was  bred.  But,  in  truth,  he  went 
further  than  the  ideals  of  the  community.  Duelling  was,  no 
doubt,  generally  approved  in  his  time  in  the  South  and  West; 
but  his  high  passions  gave  it  an  appHcation  which  went  further 
than  the  average  ideals,  and  he  carried  himself  in  ordinary  quar- 
rels more  strenuously  than  most  Southern  and  Western  gentle- 
men. He  was  not  properly  quarrelsome,  for  he  did  not  practise 
the  small  arts  of  one  who  stirs  up  strife;  but  he  was  sensitive  to 
criticism  and  too  apt  to  pay  respect  to  the  tattling  of  busybodies 
who  surrounded  him.  Most  of  his  "difficulties"  would  have 
been  avoided  by  a  magnanimous  man,  even  in  a  community 
in  which  the  authority  of  the  code  was  recognized.  But  here  we 
must  recognize  that  his  passions  were  allied  to  qualities  of  mind 
which  sustained  him  in,  if  they  did  not  impel  him  to,  many  of 
his  most  important  achievements. 

The  first  notable  quarrel'  of  Jackson  in  Tennessee  was  that 
which  he  had  through  a  number  of  years  with  John  Sevier. 
Its  origin  is  uncertain,  but  facts  seem  to  support  the  following 
account:  In  1796  came  an  election  for  major-general  of  militia. 
Under  the  territorial  regime,  Sevier  held  this  office,  but  as  he 

«It  is  impossible  to  include  in  this  narrative  all  of  Jackson's  encounters.     It  seems  necessary  to  omit  the 
duel  with  Avery,  which  most  writers  describe,  but  which  had  but  little  influence  on  his  career. 

ss 


56  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

was  commander-in-chief  under  the  state  constitution,  he  must 
relinquish  the  post.  Jackson,  whose  mihtary  rank  at  this  time 
was  not  higher  than  judge  advocate,*  desired  the  place.  Sevier 
favored  George  Conway,  opposing  Jackson  on  the  ground  of 
inexperience;  and  a  blazing  quarrel  occurred  between  the  two 
men  at  Jonesborough.'  In  November,  1796,  the  election  was 
held.  The  law  provided  that  the  brigadier-general  and 
field  officers  of  each  of  the  three  districts  should  as- 
semble at  three  places  and  cast  their  votes  for  major- 
general.  Those  for  Mero  District  were  to  meet  at  Nash- 
ville. Before  the  election  Sevier  sent  Brigadier- General 
Robertson,  of  the  district,  some  blank  commissions  with 
instructions  to  appoint  cavalry  officers  and  wrote  a  letter 
to  Joel  Lewis  in  which  he  spoke  in  favor  of  Conway.  Be- 
fore the  actual  voting  there  was  some  discussion  of  candidates 
at  which  Jackson  remained  a  silent  spectator  till  Lewis,  who  was 
not  an  officer,  rose  to  speak  against  him  and  while  doing  so  read 
from  the  governor's  private  letter.  This  brought  Jackson  to 
the  floor.  He  criticized  Sevier  for  exceeding  his  constitutional 
power  in  delegating  Robertson  to  make  appointments  for  him  and 
for  interfering  in  an  election,  which  ought  to  be  free  from  execu- 
tive influence.  Busy  tongues  carried  the  speech  to  Sevier,  who 
was  as  hot-headed  as  his  critic.  He  took  a  lofty  tone  and  de- 
clared that  he  cared  nothing  for  what  "a.  poor,  pitiful,  petty-fog- 
ging scurrilous  lawyer"  might  say  about  him.  Of  course  the 
lawyer  was  duly  advised  of  this  retort;  and  the  controversy  be- 
came warm.  Jackson  was  in  Philadelphia  when  he  learned 
that  Sevier  had  replied  to  his  charges:  he  restrained  himself 
till  he  returned  to  Nashville  in  the  spring  of  1797,  and  then 
there  began  an  angry  correspondence  between  the  two  men. 
It  threatened  an  appeal  to  the  code,  but  that  was  avoided; 

'See  below,  I.,  75.     He  was  called  colouel  in  1797. 

'Narrative  of  Colonel  Isaac  T.  Aveiy  which,  however,  ig  not  the  bast  evidence.     TaxtOD.Jackson.  I.,  163- 


EARLY  QUARRELS  AND  OTHER  ADVENTURES   57 

and  in  the  end  a  peace  was  patched  up.'  The  controversy  re- 
veals that  there  were  in  the  state  two  factions  in  the  repubhcan 
party,  one  led  by  Sevier  and  another  in  which  Jackson  was  a 
prominent  person. 

Sevier  was  particularly  strong  in  East  Tennessee,  then  the 
most  populous  part  of  the  state.  He  was  chosen  governor  in 
1796  and  reelected  till  1801,  when  by  the  constitution  he  was 
ineHgible  for  further  choice  to  that  office  till  another  term  was 
passed.  Archibald  Roane,  a  friend  of  Jackson,  was  then  elected 
for  one  term,  after  which  Sevier  was  re-elected  in  1803  and  held 
the  office  till  1809.  This  magnetic  revolutionary  hero  and 
Indian  fighter  was  irresistible  when  he  appealed  to  the  Tennes- 
seeans  for  votes,  but  he  was  not  able  to  develop  an  organiza- 
tion which  should  live  after  him.  In  1809  he  gave  way  to  his 
opponents,  who  then  took  a  continuous  control  of  the  affairs 
of  the  state.' 

The  peace  which  was  made  between  Jackson  and  the  East 
Tennessee  hero  in  1797  was  violated  in  1803,  when  Roane  ran 
against  Sevier  for  governor.  In  his  canvass  Roane  charged 
his  opponent  with  obtaining  fraudulently  certain  lands  from  the 
state  of  North  Carolina.  He  relied  on  information  furnished 
by  Jackson,  who  on  July  27,  1803,  published  in  The  Tennessee 
Gazette  a  long  letter  in  support  of  Roane's  charge,  thus  formally 
assuming  responsibility  for  the  quarrel. 

In  order  to  understand  this  dispute  even  passably  it  is  neces- 
sary to  go  back  to  1797.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year  Jackson, 
then  a  senator  from  Tennessee,  revealed  to  Alexander  Martin, 
who  was  serving  in  the  same  capacity  from  North  CaroHna,  the 
particulars  of  a  plot,  about  which  he  had  recently  heard,  to 
defraud  the  latter  state  of  military  lands.     Jackson  had  the 


'See  Jackson  to  Sevier,  May  8, 10,  and  13,  1797,  American  Eislorical  Magazine,  fNashville,)  V.,  Ii8,  ijo, 
lai.   A  draft  of  the  first  is  in  the  Jackson  Mss.    See  also  Sevier  to  Jackson,  May  8  and  13,  1797,  Jackson  Mss. 
•Garrett  and  Goodpasture,  Tennessee,  161. 


58  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

story  from  Charles  J.  Love  and  declared  that,  when  he  revealed 
itj  he  did  not  know  Stokely  Donelson  and  James  Glasgow  would 
be  implicated.  The  Nashville  agents  were  Tyrrell  and  W.  T. 
Lewis.'  Martin  sent  the  information  to  the  governor  of  his 
state,  and  he  promptly  laid  the  communication,  together  with  a 
written  statement  which  Jackson  furnished,  before  the  North 
Carolina  assembly.'  This  was  the  beginning  of  an  investigation 
which  revealed  extensive  forgeries  of  papers  which  entitled  old 
soldiers  to  lands  in  the  West  and  under  cover  of  which  the  state 
had  been  recently  cheated  of  vast  tracts.  One  of  the  men  in- 
volved was  Stokely  Donelson,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  but 
this  fact  did  not  deter  Jackson  from  exposing  the  evil-doers. 
Another  was  James  Glasgow,  secretary  of  state  in  North  Caro- 
lina, a  man  of  brilliant  personality,  who  had  aided  the  plotters 
by  accepting  the  forged  papers  knowing  them  to  be  such.  He 
was  forced  to  resign  his  secretaryship  and,  broken  in  fortune 
as  well  as  reputation,  was  glad  to  find  a  refuge  in  Tennessee 
during  his  old  age. 

One  hundred  and  sixty-five  of  the  forged  warrants  found  their 
way  into  the  hands  of  Jolm  Sevier,  by  what  means  is  not  clearly 
explained;  but  the  advantage  which  the  conspirators  would 
derive  from  drawing  the  governor  of  Tennessee  into  their  scheme 
was  so  evident  that  many  people  considered  the  mere  fact  that 
the  fraudulent  warrants  were  found  in  his  hands  evidence  of 
collusion.  Their  conviction  was  strengthened  by  the  fact  that 
in  1795,  sixteen  years  after  these  warrants  were  issued,  the 
entry-book  in  which  one  would  expect  them  to  be  recorded  was 
destroyed,  apparently  by  design.  Moreover,  on  going  through 
the  papers  in  Glasgow's  office  a  letter  from  Sevier  to  Glasgow 
was  found  in  which  the  writer  asked  that  certain  words  in  the 


'Jackson  to  Overton,  January  22,  1798,  Library  of  Congress.    (Copy) 

'Alexander  Martin  to  Governor  Ashe,  Philadelphia,  December  7,  1797.    The  records  of  the  Glasgow  trial 
are  preserved  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state,  Raleigh,  North  Carolina. 


EARLY  QUARRELS  AND  OTHER  ADVENTURES   59 

fraudulent  grants  should  be  changed  so  as  to  make  them  conform 
to  the  words  in  the  warrants  issued  legally  under  the  act  to  give 
lands  to  the  continental  soldiers,  and  for  this  trifling  service 
Sevier  asked  his  correspondent  to  accept  three  of  the  warrants 
for  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  each. 

To  the  enemies  of  Sevier  the  case  seemed  a  clear  one.  Why, 
they  asked,  should  the  entry  books  be  burned  by  one  who  had 
good  warrants?  and  why  should  the  governor  give  Glasgow  land 
worth  $960  for  a  service  for  which  the  legal  fee  was  one  dollar? 
Sevier  replied  to  his  critics  by  saying  that  he  acquired  the  war- 
rants in  a  fair  way,  that  he  had  merely  asked  Glasgow  to  con- 
solidate them  into  one  warrant  for  his  greater  convenience  in 
disposing  of  them.  In  the  summer  of  1803  there  were  several 
plain  communications  in  The  Tennessee  Gazette,  attacking  or 
defending  Sevier.  The  matter  was  referred  to  a  committee  of 
the  assembly  which  reported  against  Sevier,  but  his  friends  in 
the  assembly  were  strong  enough  to  amend  the  report  by  setting 
forth  the  facts  in  the  case  without  imputing  fault  to  anybody, 
and  in  that  shape  the  report  passed.  It  has  never  been  definitely 
ascertained  whether  Jackson's  charges  were  well  grounded  or 
not,  but  he  never  doubted  their  truth.' 

In  October,  1803,  while  the  controversy  was  at  its  height, 
Jackson,  on  his  eastern  circuit,  came  to  Knoxville  to  hold  court. 
On  coming  out  of  the  court-house  one  day,  he  saw  Sevier,  who  was 
then  a  candidate  for  governor,  haranguing  a  crowd  not  far  from 
the  building.  Sevier's  coming  to  this  place  for  such  a  purpose 
seems  to  show  that  he  sought  to  provoke  a  conflict,  and  this 
supposition  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  as  soon  as  he  saw 
Jackson  he  began  to  denounce  him.  The  latter,  regardless  of 
his  judicial  dignity,  replied  in  a  similar  strain,  and  a  turbulent 

•Jackson's  charges  were  made  in  a  long  cotamunication  to  The  Tennessee  Gazette,  July  27,  1803;  re- 
printed in  American  Historical  Magazine  (Nashville,)  I\'.,  374-481.  Sevier's  reply  with  a  counter  blast 
by  "An  Elector"  appears  in  the  same  paper,  August  8,  1803.  A  file  of  this  journal  is  in  the  Library 
of  Congress. 


6o  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

scene  occurred,  in  which  Sevier,  carried  away  by  his  emotions, 
declared  the  only  public  service  he  ever  heard  of  Jackson  per- 
forming was  to  run  off  with  another  man's  wife.  This  allusion 
to  a  very  delicate  matter  was  well  calculated  to  throw  the  object 
of  the  gibe  into  a  furious  rage.  "Great  God!"  he  exclaimed, 
"do  you  mention  her  sacred  name?"  and  a  challenge  promptly 
followed.'  But  Sevier  declined  to  fight  on  the  ground  that  his 
courage  was  so  well  known  that  he  could  afford  to  refuse  to 
risk  his  life  in  an  encounter.  This  angered  Jackson  more 
than  ever.  He  sought  to  bring  on  an  encounter  at  sight,  but 
was  not  successful;  and  after  some  ebullition  of  feeling,  friends 
interfered  and  arranged  a  truce  between  the  two  men.' 

The  quarrel  with  Sevier  had  an  important  influence  on  Jack- 
son's political  career.  As  leader  of  West  Tennessee  he  was 
necessary  to  the  republican  organization,  and  up  to  this  time 
an  open  rupture  was  avoided  between  the  two  men  through  the 
efforts  of  friends;  but  in  the  future  no  truce  could  exist.  Jack- 
son, as  the  less  popular  man,  suffered  in  the  estimation  of  the 
public.  Sevier's  election  to  the  governorship  for  three  terms 
following  the  land-frauds  controversy  emphasized  his  victory 
and  discredited  his  opponent. 

iThis  account  follows  Avery's  story,  which  is  confused  as  to  dates,  and  is  given  with  some  degree  of  reser- 
vation. The  Knoxville  wrangle,  to  which  Avery  refers,  plainly  occurred  in  1803.    See  Parton, /ac^wn,  I.,  163. 

^Inasmuch  as  several  accounts  of  this  afifair  have  been  given,  the  author  gives  here  the  substance  of  an 
affidavit  by  Andrew  Greer,  an  eyewitness,  sworn  to  on  October  23,  1803.  It  proceeds:  Ou  the  fifteenth 
instant,  the  affiant  was  riding  with  Governor  Sevier  and  his  son  "  to  go  to  South-west  Point, "  that  in  the  "  hol- 
low that  leads  down  to  Kingston"  they  met  Judge  Jackson  with  Dr.  Vandyke,  both  armed  with  pistols,  that 
Jackson  stopped  and  conversed  with  Greer,  while  Dr.  Vandyke  rode  on,  that  while  he  and  Jackson  were  talk- 
ing, he  observed  Jackson  cast  his  umbrella  on  the  ground,  draw  one  pistol,  dismount,  draw  the  other,  and 
advance  up  the  road.  Turning,  he  saw  Sevier,  dismounted  and  pistol  in  hand,  advancing  on  Jackson.  Within 
twenty  paces,  the  two  men  halted  and  began  to  abuse  one  another  Sevier  damning  Jackson  to  fire  away; 
but  after  some  words,  each  replaced  his  pistol  in  his  holster  and  began  to  approach  the  other,  Jackson 
swearing  he  would  cane  his  antagonist.  Sevier  then  drew  his  sword,  at  which  his  horse  was  frightened  and 
ran  oS  with  the  owner's  pistols  in  the  holsters,  Jackson  then  drew  his  pistols,  and  advanced.  Sevier  leapt  be- 
hind a  tree  and  damned  Jackson,  and  did  he  mean  to  fire  on  a  naked  man?  Whereupon  young  Sevier  drew 
his  pistol  and  advanced  on  Jackson,  while  Dr.  Vandyke  drew  on  young  Sevier.  After  some  talk,  all  the 
pistols  were  replaced,  and  the  party  mounted  and  rode  down  the  road,  Jackson  and  Sevier  within  shouting 
distance  and  still  abusing  one  another.  Jackson  thus  called  to  Sevier  to  fight  it  out  on  horseback,  and  Sevier 
replied  that  his  opponent  knew  that  he,  Sevier,  would  not  fight  in  the  state.  See  American  Historical  if  ago- 
tine,  (Nashville),  V,  208.) 


EARLY  QUARRELS  AND  OTHER  ADVENTURES   6i 

Of  a  similar  influence,  but  more  striking  as  an  incident,  was 
the  duel  with  Charles  Dickinson,  the  particulars  of  which  are 
as  follows:  In  1805,  Jackson's  noted  horse,  "Truxton,"  was 
backed  in  a  race  against  Captain  Joseph  Ervin's  "Plowboy," 
and  a  forfeit  of  $800,  payable  in  certain  specified  notes,  was 
agreed  upon  if  the  race  was  not  run.  Before  the  day  fixed,  the 
race  was  cancelled  by  Ervin,  and  the  forfeit  was  paid  without 
dispute.  A  short  time  afterward  a  report  was  out  that  the 
notes  tendered  were  not  those  which  were  specified  in  the  original 
agreement.  Dickinson  was  Ervin's  son-in-law  and  was  con- 
cerned with  him  in  behalf  of  "Plowboy."  One  of  his  friends 
was  Thomas  Swann,  a  young  spark  from  Virginia;  and  he  asked 
Jackson  if  the  report  about  the  notes  was  true.  Swann  alleged 
that  the  reply  to  his  question  was  in  the  affirmative  and  so  in- 
formed Dickinson,  who  saw  Jackson  and  asked  if  the  report 
which  had  come  to  him,  Dickinson,  were  true.  The  general 
quickly  replied  that  the  author  of  the  report  had  told  a  damned 
lie;  and  then  he  was  told  that  it  came  from  Swann,  between 
whom  and  Jackson  a  question  of  veracity  was  thus  raised.  It 
was  really  the  merest  word-play;  for  Jackson  claimed  that  what 
he  had  said  was  that  Ervin  offered  to  pay  the  forfeit  in  notes 
not  strictly  those  agreed  upon,  while  the  other  claimed  that  Jack- 
son said  that  the  list  of  notes  offered,  out  of  which  the  forfeit  was 
to  be  paid,  was  not  the  list  which  was  specified  in  the  original 
agreement,  and  that  there  was  a  great  deal  of  difference  between 
notes  offered  and  the  list  of  notes  offered.  Small  as  the  point 
was,  it  was  large  enough  to  support  a  quarrel  between  men  who 
were  already  sensitive  in  their  relations  to  each  other. 

Swann  became  noisy  and  insisted  that  Jackson  give  him  the 
satisfaction  which  a  gentleman  had  the  right  to  claim.  His 
opponent  in  the  affair  replied  by  saying  that  he  would  give  him 
a  caning,  and  he  followed  the  threat  with  actions.  If  he  had 
done  no  more,  the  result  would  have  been  eventless;  but  in  his 


62  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

replies  to  Swann  he  used  rasping  expressions  about  Dickinson, 
whom  he  persisted  in  thinking  responsible  for  the  young  Vir- 
ginian's attacks.  This  gave  the  controversy  a  new  character. 
Dickinson  was  regarded  as  the  best  rifle  shot  of  the  West,  and 
he  probably  did  not  fear  an  encounter  with  Jackson.  He  cer- 
tainly did  not  try  to  avoid  one.  When  he  saw  in  the  Nashville 
paper  a  letter  written  by  Jackson  in  which  his  motives  were  de- 
nounced, he  wrote  a  scathing  and  contemptuous  reply  and  sent 
it  to  the  editor.  Jackson  knew  about  it  before  it  was  pubUshed, 
and  he  waited  not  one  instant,  but  sent  a  challenge  naming  his 
friend.  General  Thomas  Overton,  as  his  second. 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  morality  of  duelling,  it  will 
be  conceded  by  most  people  that  to  receive  at  ten  paces  the 
fire  of  an  angry  enemy  requires  no  little  physical  courage.  Some 
men  have  entered  such  encounters  impetuously  or  because 
they  shrank  from  a  public  opinion  which  approved  duelling  as  a 
test  of  a  man's  bravery;  but  in  Jackson's  duel  with  Dickinson 
neither  of  these  causes  operated.  Each  man  went  into  the  affair 
deUberately,  and  each  had  determined  to  kill  the  other  if  he 
could.  The  conditions  were  such  that  each  must  have  realized 
that  one  or  the  other  was  likely  to  be  slain;  yet  they  went  to 
the  meeting  without  a  tremor.  In  the  quarrel  which  had  pre- 
ceded the  challenge  each  man  called  the  other  the  most  abusive 
epithets.  *'A  worthless,  drunken,  blackguard  scoundrel"  was 
one  of  the  descriptions  which  Jackson  gave  of  his  opponent,  who 
retahated  in  kind;  but  when  the  business  reached  the  actual 
challenge  it  was  conducted  with  the  exact  politeness  which  is 
demanded  between  perfect  gentlemen;  such  was  the  way  of 
duehsts. 

Jackson's  challenge  was  sent  on  May  22,  1806,  and  the  date 
of  the  meeting  was  fixed  for  the  thirtieth  of  the  same  month. 
The  weapons  were  to  be  pistols,  and  the  distance  was  eight 
yards.     The  place  of  the  encounter  was  in  Kentucky  just  beyond 


EARLY  QUARRELS  AND  OTHER  ADVENTURES   63 

the  state  line  at  a  point  north  of  Nashville.  Dickinson  rode  out 
to  the  grounds  with  confidence,  accompanied  by  a  gay  group 
of  his  young  companions.  As  he  passed  an  inn,  so  it  is  said,  he 
fired  at  a  string  by  which  some  object  was  suspended,  his  ball 
cutting  it  half  through,  and  he  told  the  inn-keeper  to  show  the 
string  to  General  Jackson  if  he  passed  that  way. 

In  the  meantime  Jackson  and  his  second.  General  Overton, 
riding  to  the  duelling  grounds  were  discussing  the  manner  in 
which  they  should  meet  the  antagonist.  It  had  been  agreed 
that  the  two  men  should  stand  facing  the  same  direction,  and 
that  at  the  word  they  should  turn  toward  each  other  and  fire 
as  they  chose.  Between  Overton  and  his  principal  all  the 
chances  in  such  an  encounter  were  gone  over:  they  agreed  that 
Dickinson  should  be  allowed  to  fire  first.  Like  most  crack 
shots,  he  was  a  quick  one;  and  they  thought  that  he  would 
probably  fire  first  anyway  and  at  least  hit  his  opponent:  Jack- 
son was  sure  to  hit  in  a  deliberate  shot,  but  if  he  fired  quickly 
and  an  instant  after  he  was  hit  by  a  ball,  his  aim  would  probably 
be  destroyed. 

The  surmise  of  the  two  men  proved  correct:  when  all  was 
ready  in  the  early  morning  and  Overton  gave  the  word  "Fire!" 
the  pistol  of  Dickinson  rose  instantly,  there  was  a  quick  flash 
and  report,  and  Jackson  was  seen  to  press  his  hand  tightly  over 
his  chest,  although  his  tall  figure  did  not  tremble.  Dickinson 
was  seized  with  terror.  "Great  God!"  he  cried,  "have  I  missed 
him?"  He  thought  it  impossible  that  he  should  not  hit  a  man 
at  twenty-four  feet.  For  a  moment  he  shrank  from  the  peg 
till  a  stern  word  from  Overton  brought  him  again  to  an  erect 
position. 

Jackson  now  had  his  opponent  at  his  mercy.  He  stood  glower- 
ing at  him  for  an  instant,  and  then  his  long  pistol  arm  came 
slowly  to  a  horizontal  position.  Dickinson  shuddered  and  turned 
away  his  head.    Jackson's  eye  ran  along  the  pistol  barrel, 


64  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

deliberately  adjusting  the  aim,  and  then  he  pulled  the  trigger. 
But  there  was  no  explosion.  A  hurried  consultation  by  the 
seconds  revealed  that  the  hammer  stopped  at  half-cock,  which 
b}^  the  rules  agreed  upon  was  not  to  count  as  a  fire;  and  Jackson 
was  given  another  shot.  Again  he  took  careful  aim  at  the  poor 
\dctim  who  ail  the  time  stood  awaiting  his  fate,  and  this  time 
the  pistol  fired.  The  ball  cut  a  large  artery,  and  Dickinson 
died  that  night.  Jackson  walked  triumphantly  from  the 
field,  carefully  conceaHng  from  his  attendants  the  fact  that 
he  was  wounded;  for  he  wanted  his  dying  antagonist  to  think 
his  shot  failed.  "I  should  have  hit  him,"  Jackson  once 
said,  "if  he  had  shot  me  through  the  brain." 

The  coolness  he  displayed  in  tliis  duel  brought  much  criti- 
cism on  Jackson.  He  did,  undoubtedly,  fail  to  show  magnan- 
imity, but  that  was  never  one  of  his  \artues.  If  instead  of 
shooting  down  an  unresisting  man  he  had  fired  into  the  air  and 
refused  to  fire  again,  public  opinion  would  have  justified  him; 
for  one  did  not  have  to  face  Dickinson's  pistol  a  second  time 
to  prove  his  courage.  It  is  plain  enough  that  he  killed  the  man 
whom  he  hated  because  he  wanted  to  kill  him;  and  it  was  little 
less  than  murder.  Dickinson  had  many  friends  in  West  Ten- 
nessee, and  they  denounced  bitterly  his  slayer.  The  contro- 
versy became  general  and  bitter,  and  the  large  number  of  peo- 
ple who  took  sides  against  Jackson,  added  to  those  who  were  al- 
ready his  opponents  on  account  of  the  quarrel  with  Sevier,  ma- 
terially lessened  his  influence  in  the  political  life  of  the  state.' 

The  natural  result  of  this  reversal  of  sentiment  was  to  fix 
Jackson  in  private  life.  He  remained  at  the  ''Hermitage,"  de- 
voting himself  to  his  plantation  and  his  blooded  horses,  tr3dng 
in  vain  to  bring  his  mercantile  business  out  of  the  confusion 
into  which  it  was  fallen.  He  retained  his  position  as  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  militia  of  the  western  district;  and  this  gave 

>Part(ui,  Jackson,  I.,  Chapters  33  to  aj. 


EARLY  QUARRELS  AND  OTHER  ADVENTURES   65 

him  no  mean  station.  He  was  recognized  as  peculiarly  suited 
for  that  kind  of  duty,  his  officers  liked  him,  and  it  was  his  pride 
that  he  could  call  out  a  full  quota  of  men,  if  the  war  which  al- 
ways seemed  imminent  should  at  last  arrive.  But  in  the  annals 
of  the  community,  and  in  his  own  voluminous  collection  of  papers 
relating  to  his  career,  there  is  almost  nothing  in  this  period 
which  makes  his  course  interesting ,  above  that  of  any  other 
well  esteemed  citizen  of  West  Tennessee.  In  fact,  it  is  two 
other  quarrels  which  bridge  over  the  period  between  the  Burr 
incident  in  i8c6-'o7,  and  the  Creek  campaign  in  1813,  which 
were  to  make  him  one  of  most  commanding  figures  in  the  country. 
An  honest  Indian  agent  and  a  faithful  supporter  were  the  ob- 
jects of  these  angry  outbursts. 

Silas  Dinsmore  was  United  States  agent  among  the  Choctaws. 
He  gave  satisfaction  to  the  government  and  won  the  esteem  of 
the  Indians,  but  became  objectionable  to  many  persons  living 
in  the  Mississippi  Territory.  His  agency-house  was  on  the 
great  road  from  Nashville  to  Natchez,  and  the  planters  living 
south  of  it  complained  that  their  slaves  were  accustomed  to 
run  away  along  this  road  in  company  with  pretended  masters 
and  that  it  was  his  duty  to  arrest  them.  WTiereupon  he  an- 
nounced that  he  would  detain  every  slave  traveling  with  a  white 
man,  unless  the  latter  had  a  certificate  that  the  Negro  was  his 
property;  and  he  enforced  the  rule  strictly.  There  now  arose 
louder  complaint  than  ever.  Without  knowing  of  the  regula- 
tion a  master  would  arrive  at  the  agency  to  meet  an  annoying 
delay  till  he  could  get  proof  of  ownership  of  his  slaves,  and  then 
he  would  go  on  his  way  with  loud  complaints  against  the  offi- 
cious agent  who  delayed  him.  Nashville  was  the  next  stopping 
place  on  the  way  north  and  most  of  their  tales  of  woe  were  un- 
burdened there.  The  lamentations  reached  the  ears  of  the 
secretary  of  war,  who  instructed  Dinsmore  to  use  discretion  in 
enforcing  his  rule;  but  the  agent  replied  that  he  could  not 


66  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

undertake  to  decide  by  appearances  the  claims  of  masters  who 
passed  him,  and  he  continued  to  require  certificates  of  all. 

Jackson  never  saw  both  sides  of  a  subject;  and  to  him  Dins- 
more  was  a  perverse  official  who  needed  to  be  disciplined.  He 
spoke  his  mind  freely  about  a  man  who  tried  to  impede  the 
passage  of  an  American  citizen  along  the  pubhc  roads,  and  Dins- 
more  heard  of  his  threats.  In  his  trading  Jackson  took  all 
kinds  of  things  which  the  people  bought  and  sold  and  thus  he 
frequently  got  possession  of  slaves  which  he  sent  to  the  southern 
country  for  sale.  Such  a  venture  he  made  about  the  time  the 
feeling  against  Dinsmore  was  at  its  height;  but  his  Natchez 
agent  mismanaged  the  affair,  and  he  went  to  that  place  in  person 
to  bring  the  slaves  home.  On  his  return  he  must  pass  the  Choc- 
taw agency,  and  he  determined  to  give  Dinsmore  what  he  con- 
sidered a  proper  rebuke.  He  armed  two  of  his  trusted  Negroes, 
took  a  rifle  in  his  own  hands,  and  in  this  fashion  marched  on 
the  enemy.  He  had  no  certificates  that  he  owned  his  slaves, 
p.nd  trouble  seemed  imminent,  but  the  agent  proved  to  be 
absent,  and  the  cavalcade  passed  the  house  without  incident. 

In  Nashville  Jackson  now  became  more  violent  than  ever, 
swearing  that  if  any  more  slaves  were  detained  he  would  bum 
both  agent  and  agency.  Soon  afterward  a  lady  arrived  in  the 
town  reporting  that  her  ten  slaves  were  detained  for  lack  of 
passports.  At  the  same  time  the  town  paper  contained  an 
announcement  from  Dinsmore  that  he  would  execute  the  rules 
of  his  office.  Jackson  was  already  striving  to  secure  the  removal 
of  Dinsmore.  To  G.  W.  Campbell,  congressman  from  Tennes- 
see, he  sent  a  blazing  letter.  "My  God!"  he  exclaimed.  "Is 
it  come  to  this?  Are  we  freemen,  or  are  we  slaves?  Is  this 
real  or  is  it  a  dream?  .  .  .  Can  the  Secretary  of  War  for 
one  moment  retain  the  idea  that  we  will  permit  this  petty  tyrant 
to  sport  with  our  rights  secured  to  us  by  treaty,  and  which  by 
the  law  of  nature  we  do  possess,  and  sport  with  our  feelings 


EARLY  QUARRELS  AND  OTHER  ADVENTURES   67 

by  publishing  his  lawless  tyranny  exercised  over  a  helpless  and 
unprotected  female?" 

This  fiery  appeal  ejffected  nothing.  Dinsmore  kept  his  place 
for  the  time;  but  in  the  following  year,  18 12,  he  lost  it  because 
he  happened  to  be  absent  when  an  important  crisis  occurred 
in  Indian  affairs  and  when  a  man  was  needed  on  the  spot  imme- 
diately. Jackson  never  forgave  him  for  what  he  considered 
usurpation  of  authority;  and  he  exerted  himself  after  the  war, 
when  his  influence  with  the  war  department  was  great,  to 
prevent  Dinsmore's  reappointment  to  the  Choctaw  agency. 
The  incident  illustrates  Jackson's  extreme  sensitiveness  to  the 
restraint  of  his  actions  by  another  and  his  readiness  to  take  the 
lead  in  protesting  against  what  he  deemed  a  wrong;'  and  his 
side  of  the  contention  was,  probably,  nearer  right  than  Dins- 
more's. It  was  sheer  wrong-headedness  in  the  agent  to  retaliate 
for  criticism,  although  it  was  unfounded,  by  a  practice  which 
could  in  no  sense  be  a  public  service,  and  to  persist  in  it  in  the 
face  of  universal  opposition.  Jackson  was  not  alone  in  his 
position;  for  Governor  Blount,  Felix  Grundy,  and  Poindexter, 
of  Mississippi,  all  protested  to  the  secretary  of  war  against 
Dinsmore.' 

His  other  noted  quarrel  of  this  period  was  with  the  two  Ben- 
tons,  and  it  occurred  in  18 13.  One  of  his  friends  was  William 
Carroll,  destined  to  have  an  important  military  and  political 
career  in  Tennessee.  He  was  then  a  young  man  and  recently 
arrived  in  Nashville;  and  from  a  certain  superior  air  which 
he  had  he  was  unpopular  with  the  young  gentlemen  of  the 
town.  Jackson  quickly  recognized  his  soldierly  qualities  and 
supported  him  so  well  that  the  other  militia  officers  became 
jealous.    A  quarrel  ensued  and  from  one  of  them  Carroll  got 


'Parton,  Jackson,  I.,  349-360. 

<BIount  to  Jackson,  March  20,  1812;  Blouot  to  the  secret&rr  of  war,  March  32,  1812,  and  Grundy  to 
Jackson,  February  la,  iSta;  Jackson  Mss. 


68  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

a  challenge.  He  declined  on  the  ground  that  the  sender  was 
not  a  gentleman.  Another  challenger  was  found,  but  the  same 
reply  was  given.  Then  the  officers  induced  Jesse,  the  brother 
of  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  to  send  a  challenge;  and  this  was 
accepted.  Carroll  now  found  that  none  of  the  young  men  of 
the  town  would  act  as  his  second,  and  he  asked  Jackson  to  do 
him  that  service,  who  at  first  declined  on  the  ground  of  his 
superior  age,  and  because  after  investigation  the  grounds  of 
the  quarrel  did  not  seem  to  justify  a  duel.  He  sought  Jesse 
Benton  and  got  him  to  agree  that  the  matter  should  be  dropped; 
but  that  young  man's  friends  easily  persuaded  him  into  a  re- 
newal of  his  demands.  Jackson  then  became  impatient  with 
Benton  and  agreed  to  act  as  Carroll's  second. 

The  duel  which  followed  was  a  farce.  The  parties  were 
placed  back  to  back,  and  at  a  given  word  they  wheeled  and 
fired.  Benton  discharged  his  weapon  first,  and,  in  order  to 
expose  as  small  a  target  as  possible,  came  to  a  crouching  posi- 
tion. His  opponent's  ball  struck  the  lower  part  of  his  back 
and  made  a  long  raking  flesh  wound  in  the  buttock.  The 
unfortunate  man  suffered  more  from  ridicule  than  from  the 
wound. 

When  this  duel  was  fought,  Thomas  Hart  Benton  was  in  Wash- 
ington. It  was  just  after  Jackson's  Natchez  expedition  and 
Benton's  taste  of  military  life  in  that  undertaking  gave  him  a 
desire  for  a  permanent  career  in  the  army.  His  business  in 
Washington  was  to  get  such  a  position  and  he  carried  with  him 
a  recommendation  from  Jackson.  He  sought  also  to  get  certain 
accounts  of  Jackson's  allowed  by  the  government,  an  errand 
which,  however,  was  rendered  of  little  account  by  the  small 
disposition  of  the  war  department  to  refuse  to  pay  them.* 
While  returning  to  Nashville,  he  learned  of  the  duel  in  which 
Jackson  was  second  on  the  opposite  side  to  his  brother,  Jesse. 


'  See  below  8S 


EARLY  QUARRELS  AND  OTHER  ADVENTURES   69 

That  sensitive  young  man  sent  him  a  long  account  of  the  affair 
in  which  the  action  of  the  general  was  placed  in  as  bad  a  light 
as  possible.  Thereupon,  Thomas  wrote  Jackson  a  letter,  the 
tone  of  which  was  cooler  than  he  was  accustomed  to  use  toward 
liis  old  friend  and  received  a  reply  in  the  same  key.  Of&cious 
acquaintances  repeated  to  each  man  remarks  which  the  other 
was  reported  to  have  used  till  at  last  Jackson  declared  that  he 
would  horsewhip  Thomas  Benton  on  sight. 

Had  some  quieting  spirit  interfered  at  this  point,  it  is  possi- 
ble that  the  matter  could  have  been  checked  where  it  was; 
but  no  such  spirit  existed  in  the  community,  and  the  affair  ran 
rapidly  into  one  of  the  most  disgraceful  encounters  of  the  day. 
Benton  neither  sought  nor  avoided  it.  On  reaching  home  he 
went  to  Nashville  on  business,  taking  the  precaution  to  put  up 
at  a  tavern  at  which  Jackson  was  not  in  the  habit  of  staying 
when  in  town.  Busybodies -hurried  to  the  "Hermitage"  with  the 
news  and  its  owner  determined  to  carry  out  his  threat.  He  rode 
into  town  in  the  afternoon  and  stopped  at  the  usual  place.  Next 
morning  with  Coffee  he  crossed  the  pubHc  square  to  the  post-ofhce 
and  observed  Benton  standing  in  the  doorway  of  his  own  tavern. 
"Do  you  see  that  fellow?"  said  Coffee.  "Oh  yes,"  was  the  re- 
ply, ' '  I  have  my  eye  on  him. ' '  Returning  from  the  post-office  the 
two  men  passed  directly  by  the  doorway  in  which  the  enemy 
was  displaying  himself.  As  they  reached  the  spot,  Jackson 
wheeled  sharply  in  front  of  his  foe,  raised  a  riding-whip,  and  ex- 
claimed, "Now  you  damned  rascal,  I  am  going  to  punish  you! 
Defend  yourself!"  Benton,  while  endeavoring  to  draw  a  pistol 
from  his  breast  pocket,  retreated  backward  down  a  hallway,  his 
adversary  following  with  a  pistol  in  his  hand.  As  they  passed 
a  side  door  Jesse  Benton  rushed  out  of  it,  and,  beheving  his 
brother  to  be  in  imminent  danger,  emptied  his  pistol  into  the 
shoulder  of  Jackson,  who  had  not  seen  him.  The  wounded 
man  fell  to  the  floor.     Cofifee  had  joined  the  m^lee  and  now 


70  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

continued  the  pursuit  of  Thomas,  who  stumbled  and  fell  down 
a  stairway  which  he  had  not  seen,  thus  saving  himself  from 
the  vengeance  of  the  towering  figure  which  pursued  him.  In 
the  meantime,  another  friend  of  Jackson  fell  on  the  other  of 
the  two  brothers,  threw  him  to  the  floor,  and  was  about  to  do 
him  serious  harm  when  the  bystanders  interfered.  With 
this  the  combat  ended.  Jackson  received  a  painful  flesh  wound, 
the  effects  of  which  he  long  felt;  but  it  did  not  seriously  in- 
convenience him,  while  neither  of  the  others  was  injured. 

From  being  one  of  Jackson's  trusted  political  allies  Benton 
now  found  all  the  general's  friends  arrayed  against  him,  and 
his  poHtical  prospects  in  Tennessee  vanished.  At  the  same 
time,  he  got  the  position  in  the  army  which  he  desired,  heuten- 
ant-colonel  of  the  Tenth  Regiment  of  regulars;  but  the  pro- 
motion did  not  bring  satisfaction,  for  the  recent  turn  of  mili- 
tary affairs  in  the  Southwest  made  Jackson  supreme  there,  and 
under  him  Benton  could  hope  for  no  advancement.  During  the 
rest  of  the  war,  while  other  Tennesseeans  won  glory  in  the  Creek 
country  and  at  New  Orleans,  he  was  kept  on  duty  with  detach- 
ments sent  to  keep  the  Indians  quiet,  and  the  return  of  peace 
saw  him  still  a  Heutenant-colonel.  It  was  for  this  reason  that 
he  turned  his  face  westward,  seeking  a  place  where  his  course 
would  not  be  blocked  by  the  hostility  of  Jackson.  In  1815 
he  settled  in  Missouri,  where  his  career  soon  became  very  bril- 
liant. Later  in  life  he  became  reconciled  to  his  old  enemy 
and  earher  friend;  and  in  the  stem  struggles  of  the  latter's 
presidency  he  was  one  of  the  most  devoted  of  his  defenders. 
But  Jesse  Benton  never  forgave  Jackson,  and  he  signahzed  his 
hostility  by  writing  some  bitter  attacks  on  him  in  the  presi- 
dential campaigns  of  1824  and  1828. 

On  Jackson,  himself,  the  effect  of  these  repeated  encounters 
was  little  less  injurious  than  on  Benton.  They  not  only  in- 
creased the  number  of  his  enemies,  but  they  served  to  make 


EARLY  QUARRELS  AND  OTHER  ADVENTURES   71 

impartial  men  think  that  he  was  not  a  man  to  be  trusted  in 
public  Ufe.  They  also  increased  his  irritability,  as  he  himself 
recognized.  He  even  thought  of  moving  from  Tennessee  in 
order  to  make  a  new  start  in  life.  He  turned  his  eyes  to  Missis- 
sippi, where  he  thought  of  getting  a  judgeship.  Two  reasons 
which  he  gave  for  this  action  show  the  state  of  his 
mind  in  1810: 

"From  my  pursuits  for  several  years  past,"  he  said,  "from 
many  unpleasant  occurrences  that  took  place  during  that  time 
it  has  given  my  mind  such  a  turn  of  thought,  that  I  have  laboured 
to  get  clear  off.  I  have  found  this  impossible,and  unless  [I  have] 
some  new  pursuit  to  employ  my  mind  and  thoughts,  I  find 
it  impossible  to  divert  myself  of  those  habits  of  gloomy  and 
peevish  reflections  that  the  wanton  and  flagitous  conduct,  and 
unremitted  reflections  of  base  calumny,  heaped  upon  me  has 
given  rise  to;  and  in  order  to  try  the  experiment  how  far  new 
scenes  might  relieve  me  from  this  unpleasant  tone  of  thought, 
1  did  conclude  to  accept  that  appointment  in  case  it  was 
offered  me." 

His  second  reason  was  more  in  keeping  with  our  usual  ideas 
of  his  motives.  "From  a  temporizing  disposition  displayed 
by  congress,"  he  declared,  "I  am  well  aware  that  no  act  of 
insult,  degradation  or  contumely  offered  to  our  Government 
will  arouse  them  from  their  present  lethargy  and  temporizing 
conduct,  until  my  namesake  sets  fire  to  some  of  our  seaport 
towns  and  puts  his  foot  aboard  a  British  man-of-war.  .  .  . 
From  all  which  I  conclude  that  as  a  military  man  I  shall  have 
no  amusement  or  business,  and  indolence  and  inaction  would 
shortly  destroy  me."' 

Jackson  might  well  think  that  the  hand  of  fate  was  against 
him.  When  he  left  the  bench  in  1804,  he  gave  up  his  last  con- 
nection with  civil  life.    He  felt  little  interest  in  the  career  of 


*Jackson  to  J.  Whitesides,  February  lo,  1810;  Jackson  Mss. 


72  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

lawyer,  lawmaker,  or  judge,  and  his  success  as  a  merchant  was 
not  reassuring.  Tennessee  had  passed  beyond  its  frontier 
stage  of  development:  it  demanded,  in  civil  matters,  a  more 
temperate,  intellectual,  and  self -controlled  leader  than  Jackson, 
and  if  in  1810  he  had  become  a  judge  in  Mississippi  Territory 
he  would  merely  have  followed  the  frontier,  to  whose  conditions 
he  was  best  adapted. 

But  there  was  one  chance  of  his  reappearance  in  public  life 
in  his  own  state.  In  spite  of  all  disappointments,  war  was  at 
last  coming  and  in  its  course  England  would  encourage  the 
Indians  to  attack  the  Southwestern  settlements.  Again  would 
the  border  call  for  a  man  of  elemental  force,  one  whose  will, 
courage,  sagacity,  and  power  of  command  could  organize  the 
rude  men  around  him  into  an  effective  fighting  machine  and 
direct  it  for  the  safety  of  his  country.  Just  such  a  man  was 
Jackson.  From  1802  he  was  in  command  of  the  militia,  always 
waiting  for  the  chance  to  distinguish  himself  in  battle.  And 
now,  late  in  18 12,  the  hour  struck. 


CHAPTER  VI 

EARLY    MILITARY  CAREER 

Jackson's  rise  into  prominence  in  the  militia  was  due  to  native 
soldierly  qualities  which  were  early  manifested  and  alv^^ays 
evident.  The  Tennesseeans  of  the  day  were  of  necessity  much 
engaged  in  war  and  in  the  preparations  for  it.  Many  of  them 
were  revolutionary  soldiers,  men  who  fought  in  the  continental 
line  and  moved  west  to  take  the  lands  which  were  given  them  as 
rewards  for  that  service.  These  soldiers  furnished  the  officers 
and  some  of  the  privates  in  what  was  probably  the  best  body  of 
militia  ever  seen  in  America.  Such  people  were  apt  to  know  a 
soldier  when  they  saw  him ;  and  one  who  had  the  talents  to  be  a 
revolutionary  trooper  at  thirteen  and  the  hero  of  New  Orleans  at 
forty-eight  would  hardly  fail  to  impress  them. 

For  Jackson  there  was  much  inducement  to  escape  from  the 
law  into  the  soldier's  calling.  For  ten  years  after  his  arrival  there 
was  constant  danger  of  a  separation  of  the  West  from  the  sea- 
board region:  when  that  subsided  all  eyes  turned  to  the  task 
of  thrusting  the  Spaniards  out  of  New  Orleans:  and  when  the 
purchase  treaty  of  1803  solved  that  problem  there  remained  the 
growing  belief  that  war  must  come  with  England,  and  prob- 
ably with  her  protected  ally,  Spain,  during  which  Canada  and 
Florida  would  offer  fields  for  glorious  achievement.  If  war 
should  come  from  either  of  these  causes  the  Cumberland  district 
would  be  a  most  important  part  of  the  situation.  Jackson 
understood  this  and  from  an  early  day  in  his  residence  sought 
military  office. 

Two  groups  of  politicians  controlled  aflairs  in  Tennessee  at 

73 


74  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

the  time  with  Vv^hich  we  are  now  concerned.  One  of  them  was 
led  by  the  Blounts,  WiUiam,  the  first  territorial  governor,  and 
Willie,'  liis  brother:  the  other  was  led  by  John  Sevier,  through 
many  daring  exploits  the  hero  of  the  people.  He  was  not  the 
equal  of  either  of  the  Blounts  as  a  politician  or  as  a  statesman, 
but  whenever  he  asked  for  office,  the  people  gave  it.  Blount 
was  governor  under  the  territorial  regime  and  retired  from  the 
office  in  1796  to  be  United  States  senator.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Sevier  who  was  reelected  till  1801,  when  he  could  not  by 
constitutional  limitation  be  chosen  again  for  two  years.  But 
after  that  interval,  during  which  Archibald  Roane,  who  was 
friendly  with  the  Blounts,  was  governor,  he  again  came  into 
office  in  1803  and  held  it  for  another  period  of  six  years. 

As  a  part  of  the  territorial  organization  Jackson  came  to  be 
identified  with  the  Blount  group,  and  this  brought  him  into  op- 
position to  Sevier,"  It  therefore  happened  that  when  Sevier 
was  governor  there  was  no  possible  appointment  for  Jackson 
which  depended  on  the  will  of  the  governor,  although  in  those 
offices  which  depended  on  votes  of  the  people  or  on  the  assem- 
bly, he  had  abundant  success.  It  was  fortunate  for  Jackson 
that  the  two  events  most  critical  in  his  military  career,  his  elec- 
tion as  major-general  and  the  outbreak  of  the  war  of  181 2,  came, 
one  during  the  short  interval  between  his  opponent's  two  periods 
of  office-holding  and  the  other  after  the  expiration  of  the  second 
period. 

When  Tennessee  became  a  state  in  1796  it  was  divided  into 
three  militia  districts,  one  of  which  was  Mero.  The  militia  of 
each  county  constituted  a  regiment  and  that  of  a  district  made 
a  brigade,  with  one  calvary  regiment  attached  to  each  brigade. 
Company  and  regimental  officers  were  to  be  elected  by  persons 
liable  to  militia  duty,  and  commissions  were  to  be  issued  by  the 


'Pronounced  Wi-lie. 

'For  the  Sevier-Jackson  quarrel  see  above  pp.  55-60. 


EARLY  MILITARY  CAREER  75 

governor.  The  field  officers  of  each  district  elected  the  briga- 
dier-general; and  the  field  officers  of  all  the  districts,  brigadier- 
generals  included,  elected  a  major-general  who  commanded  the 
militia  of  the  whole  state.  If  there  should  be  a  tie  vote  in  the 
selection  of  the  major-general,  the  governor  was  to  cast  the  decid- 
ing vote.  These  features  of  the  militia  system  were  unchanged 
during  Jackson's  major-generalship.  The  effect  was  essentially 
democratic.  Personal  jealousies  sometimes  entered  into  the 
elections,  and  the  system  did  not  tend  to  secure  military  sub- 
ordination, but  it  facilitated  the  rise  into  power  of  a  really  capable 
man,  like  Jackson;  and  under  his  direction  it  became  a  good 
piece  of  fighting  machinery.' 

The  first  suggestion  we  have  of  Jackson's  interest  in  the  mili- 
tia system  is  found  in  a  plan  which  he  sent  in  1791  to  Governor 
Blount,  who  hked  it  so  well  that  he  forwarded  it  to  the  secretary 
of  war.'  A  year  later,  September  10,  1792,  he  appointed  the 
author  judge  advocate  of  the  Davidson  County  regiment.'  James 
Robertson,  who  with  John  Donelson,  Jackson's  father-in-law, 
was  joint  leader  of  the  original  NashviUe  settlement,  and  who  was 
now  the  leading  military  man  on  the  Cumberland,  seems  to  have 
urged  Jackson's  appointment  to  a  line  command.  The  gov- 
ernor was  willing  and  wrote : "  Can't  you  contrive  for  Hay  to  resign 
and  I  will  promote  Donelson  [now  second  major]  and  appoint 
Jackson  second  major?'"  The  scheme  did  not  succeed,  and  in 
1 796  he  was  not  a  field  officer,  as  he  himself  says.'  His  promotion 
was  probably  to  colonelcy,  for  he  was  spoken  of  on  December  7, 
1797,  by  that  title.  But  his  ambition  was  for  major-general- 
ship.    At  the  first  election  to  that  office,  in  1796,  he  was  a  can- 

'Scott,  Laws  of  Tennessee,  I.,  S59- 

2G0V.  Blount  to  General  Robertson,  September  21,  iygi,Atnerican  Eistorkal  Magazine  (Nashville),  I.,  193. 

'See  American  Historical  Magazine  (Nashville),  II.,  231.  Nash-.-ille  is  located  in  Davidson  county.  Jack- 
son was  not  one  of  those  commissioned  by  Blount  in  1790  when  he  treated  tlic  militia  establishment  for  the 
newly  organized  territory. 

*Blount  to  Robertson,  October  28,  1792,  American  Historical  Magazine  (NashviUe)  II.,  84, 

'Jackson  to  Sevier,  May  8,  1797,  Jackson  Mss.;  also  American  Historical  Magazine  (Nashville),  V.,  118. 


76  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

didate  and  had  the  opposition  of  Sevier,  who  in  the  heat  of  later 
controversy  asserted  that  he  would  not  at  that  time  consent 
to  the  election  of  an  inexperienced  man,'  The  ofhce  went  to 
Conway,  who  died  during  Roane's  term  as  governor.  In  the 
election  to  fill  the  vacancy  Jackson  and  Sevier  each  recei^^e  d 
seventeen  votes  and  James  Winchester  had  three.  Roane 
cast  the  deciding  vote  in  favor  of  the  first  of  the  three,  who  thus 
arrived  at  the  top  of  his  ambition  in  February,  1802.'  But  tliis 
dignity  was  shorn  of  half  its  strength  by  the  passage,  November 
5,  1803,  of  a  new  militia  act  by  which  there  were  to  be  two  divi- 
sions of  militia  each  to  be  commanded  by  a  major-general. 
Eleven  counties  in  West  Tennessee  were  to  constitute  the  second 
division,  and  over  this  Jackson  retained  command;  while  four- 
teen counties  in  East  Tennessee  made  up  the  first  division,  over 
which  a  m.ajor-general  was  to  be  elected.'  In  this  condition  the 
militia  system  remained  substantially  till  the  beginning  of 
the  war. 

The  ten  years  following  Jackson's  election  as  major-general 
were  years  of  expectancy.  They  brought  him  three  calls  from 
the  government:  one  in  1803  when  it  was  feared  that  Spain  Vv^ould 
not  give  up  Louisiana  without  force,  one  in  1806  in  order  to  defeat 
Burr's  alleged  conspiracy,  and  one  in  1809  when  the  government 
planned  a  secret  attack  against  West  Florida.*  In  each  case 
his  response  was  decided  and  was  seconded  by  the  enthusiastic 
support  of  the  militia  under  his  command.  "Rest  assured," 
he  said,  "that  should  the  Tocsin  of  war  be  sounded  the  hardy 
sons  of  the  west  that  I  have  the  honor  to  command  will  deserve 


^Ameri'-.an  Historical  Magazine,  Nashville,  V.,  ii6. 

'See  David  Campbell  to  Jackson,  January  25,  1802.    Jackson  Mss. 

*Acts  of  Tennessee,  ist  session, 5th    General  Assembly,  Chapter  I.,  November  S,  1803. 

<0n  the  first,  see  G.  W.  Campbell  to  Jackson,  October  29,  1803;  William  Dickson  to  Jackson,  October  31 
and  November  20,  1803;  Jackson  to  the  secretary  of  war,  November  12, 1803  and  January  13,  1804,  Jackson 
Mss,  and  Jackson  to  Jefierson.n.  d.,in  Jefferson  Mss.,  Library  of  Congress,  volume  46,  number  46-  On 
the  second  sec  above,  46-4g.  On  the  third,  see  Jackson  to  Winchester,  March  15,  1800,  and  Sexner  to 
Jsckson,  January  12,  1809,  Jackson  Mss. 


EARLY   MILITARY  CAREER  77 

well  of  their  country.'"  The  assertion  is  supported  by  ample 
evidence  in  his  unpublished  correspondence,  and  it  marks  the 
extent  to  which  his  extraordinary  leadership  was  accepted  by  the 
people  around  him. 

In  181 2  war  was  declared  against  England,  when  there  seemed 
no  other  excuse  for  it  than  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  of  a  long 
and  spiritless  inactivity.  To  the  people  of  West  Tennessee  it 
gave  peculiar  joy:  Spain  was  in  such  close  alliance  with  England 
that  it  seemed  inevitable  that  she  would  be  brought  into  the 
struggle;  and  this  would  give  the  long  desired  opportunity  to 
take  vengeance  for  many  wrongs  on  the  frontier.  But  the  cau- 
tious congress  refused  to  draw  Spain  into  the  conflict,  and  His 
Catholic  Majesty  was  not  willing  to  risk  his  hold  on  Florida  by 
becoming  involved  in  a  war  to  which  he  could  contribute  no 
armies. 

Two  years  before  the  war  began,  the  Indians  of  the  West,  un- 
der the  guidance  of  the  British,  were  planning  to  form  a  great 
combination  to  protect  themselves  against  the  fatal  advance  of 
the  whites.  The  movement  was  led  by  Tecumseh  and  his  brother, 
the  Prophet,  and  aimed  to  unite  both  the  northwestern  and  the 
southwestern  tribes  in  a  great  confederacy.  It  aroused  so  much 
alarm  that  the  Indiana  and  Kentucky  mihtia  under  Harrison 
moved  suddenly  on  the  northwestern  tribes  in  18 10  and  dealt 
them  a  severe  blow  at  Tippecanoe.  This  expedition  was  watched 
with  great  interest  in  Tennessee,  and  when  news  came  that  it 
was  involved  in  difficulties  Jackson  wrote  hurriedly  and  fervently 
to  Harrison  offering  on  request  to  come  to  his  assistance  with 
five  hundred  West  Tennesseeans.'  Correct  news  from  the  north- 
ward soon  dissipated  all  the  hopes  which  sprang  from  this 
situation. 

But  the  war  spirit  was  alive  in   the  West  and  continued  to 

'Jackson  to  Servier,  December  30,  i8os,  Jackson  Mss. 
*Jackson  to  Winchester,  November  28.  tSii,  Jackson  Ms». 


78  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

grow.  In  the  winter  of  1811-1812  it  made  itself  felt  in  con- 
gress, the  western  members  taking  the  lead.  Long  before  hos- 
tilities were  authorized  the  impetuous  Jackson  believed  that 
they  were  at  hand.  Six  months  beforehand  he  was  using  every 
avenue  of  influence  open  to  him  to  obtain  service  at  the  head  of 
his  faithful  militiamen.  To  Governor  WiUie  Blount  he  wrote 
saying  that  with  ten  days'  notice  he  could  take  the  field  at  the 
head  of  four  thousand  men,  and  engaging  within  ninety  days 
to  be  before  Quebec  with  two  thousand  five  hundred.  The 
governor  did  not  think  this  an  idle  boast:  he  transmitted  the 
information  to  the  secretary  of  war  approvingly  and  added  by 
way  of  vouching  for  Jackson:  "He  loves  his  country  and  his 
countrymen  have  full  confidence  in  him.  He  delights  in  peace; 
but  does  not  fear  war.  He  has  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  treating  his 
enemies  as  such;  with  them  his  first  pleasure  is  to  meet  them  on 
the  field.  At  the  present  crisis  he  feels  a  holy  zeal  for  the  welfare 
of  the  United  States,  and  at  no  period  of  his  life  has  he  been 
known  to  feel  otherwise.  His  understanding  and  integrity  may 
be  confided  in.  He  is  independent  and  liberal  in  mind;  easy  in 
his  circumstances ;  generous  and  open  in  his  habits  and  manners. 
He  ought  to  command  his  volunteers." ' 

February  6,  18 12,  congress,  in  anticipation  of  hostilities,  au- 
thorized the  enlistment  of  fifty  thousand  volunteers.  The  in- 
formation brought  enthusiasm  to  the  Tennesseeans,  who  for 
months  had  petitioned  in  town  meetings  and  in  the  legislature 
for  an  appeal  to  arms.  March  7,  Jackson  sent  to  his  division  a 
ringing  call  for  volunteers.'  The  people,  he  urged,  had  long 
demanded  war;  now  let  them  prove  their  sincerity  by  offering 
their  services.  The  reponse  justified  his  anticipations;  June  25, 
a  week  after  war  was  declared  by  congress,  he  offered  the  Presi- 
dent twenty-five  hundred  volunteers.     In  due  time  the  tender 

>Blount  to  Eustis,  January  35,  181  j,  Jackson  Mss. 
'See  Jackson  Mss. 


EARLY  MILITARY  CAREER  79 

was  formally  accepted/  but  orders  for  immediate  service  did 
not  arrive. 

While  he  waited  to  hear  from  Washington  he  was  dreaming  of 
conquering  Florida,  and  on  July  21,  he  expressed  his  feelings  in 
a  passionate  proclamation  to  his  division.'  "You  burn  with 
anxiety,"  he  said,  "to  learn  on  what  theatre  your  arms  will  find 
employment.  Then  turn  your  eyes  to  the  South!  Behold  in  the 
province  of  West  Florida,  a  territory  whose  rivers  and  harbors, 
are  indispensable  to  the  prosperity  of  the  western,  and  still 
more  so,  to  the  eastern  division  of  our  state.  Behold  there  like- 
wise the  asylum  from  which  an  insiduous  hand  incites  to  rapine 
and  bloodshed,  the  ferocious  savages,  who  have  just  stained 
our  frontier  with  blood,  and  who  will  renew  their  outrages  the 
moment  an  English  force  shall  appear  in  the  Bay  of  Pensacola. 
It  is  here  that  an  employment  adapted  to  your  situation  awaits 
your  courage  and  your  zeal,  and  while  extending  in  this  quarter 
the  boundaries  of  the  Repubhc  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  you  will 
experience  a  peculiar  satisfaction  in  having  conferred  a  signal 
benefit  on  that  section  of  the  Union  to  which  you  yourselves 
immediately  belong."  During  the  next  two  years  Jackson 
issued  many  proclamations  to  his  troops:  they  were  usually 
drafted  by  himself  and  finished  by  an  aide.  Although  the 
rhetoric  was  inchned  to  be  turgid,  the  language  was  direct  and 
impelling.    They  suited  the  people  to  whom  they  were  addressed. 

In  the  meantime,  the  President  and  cabinet  decided  to  occupy 
the  Floridas,  if  congress  would  authorize  it.  They  reckoned 
badly;  for  Madison's  enemies  suddenly  became  warm  defenders 
of  the  rights  of  neutrality  and  rallied  enough  votes  in  the 
senate  to  defeat  the  proposed  expedition.  On  February 
12,  1 8 13,  however,  they  voted  to  authorize  the  occupa- 
tion of  Mobile  and    the  region  west  of  the  Perdido,  a  task 

'See  Jackson  Mss. 

'Secretary  of  War  to  Governor  Blount,  July  ix,  iSia,  Jackson  Mss. 


So  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

which  was  easily  performed  by  the  regular  troops  under 
Wilkinson. 

Madison  did  not  expect  this  decision  and  long  before  it  was 
made  was  preparing  to  send  an  expedition  into  Florida.  Early 
in  November,  1812,  the  governor  of  Tennessee  received  a  call  for 
fifteen  hundred  volunteers  for  the  defense  of  New  Orleans.  That 
place  was  not  threatened,  but  it  was  not  good  poHcy  to  reveal 
the  real  destination  of  the  force  before  congress  acted  in  refer- 
ence to  the  expedition.  To  the  Tenesseeans  the  order  brought 
real  joy.  Governor  Blount  forwarded  it  to  Jackson  as  soon  as 
it  was  received  in  Knoxvillle  and  followed  in  person  in  order 
to  aid  in  dispatching  the  detachment.  In  a  patriotic  procla- 
mation of  November  12, the  major-general  called  his  forces  into 
the  field  and  fixed  December  10  as  the  date  of  the  rendezvous. 

The  spirit  of  the  militia  was  excellent.  In  the  preceding 
spring,  in  response  to  Jackson's  manifesto  of  March  7,  two  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  signified  their  willingness 
to  volunteer  in  case  there  should  be  war.  Now,  although  the 
call  was  for  only  fifteen  hundred,  there  came  to  Nashville  at 
the  appointed  time  two  thousand  and  seventy  men,  and  the 
question  was,  should  all  of  them  be  accepted  ?  After  a  moment's 
hesitation  Governor  Bloimt  authorized  the  mustering  of  the 
whole  force,  and  Jackson  hurried  forward  its  equipment.  In 
ordinary  experience  two  months  is  not  too  much  to  muster, 
organize,  and  bring  into  marching  condition  two  thousand 
militia;  but  it  was  more  than  Jackson  would  now  have.  By  the 
end  of  the  year  he  was  ready  to  march,  and  on  January  7,  18 13, 
the  expedition  was  put  into  motion.  The  infantry,  fourteen 
hundred  strong,  went  down  the  river  in  flat-bottomed  boats, 
and  the  cavalry,  which  numbered  six  hundred  and  seventy,  pro- 
ceeded by  land  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Coffee.  The 
point  of  concentration  was  Natchez. 

When  Governor  Blount  submitted  to  Jackson  his  orders  from 


EARLY  MILITARY  CAREER  8i 

Washington  it  was  seen  to  be  doubtful  if  the  latter  would  com- 
mand the  detachment.  In  the  first  place  the  numbers  in  the 
detachment  did  not  seem  to  require  a  major-general  for  comman- 
der; in  the  second  place  they  were  merely  to  march  to  New  Or- 
leans where  they  would  be  under  Wilkinson's  orders  and  for  this 
a  brigadier-general  was  ample.  Moreover,  the  secretary  in 
his  call  on  the  governor  made  no  reference  to  Jackson's  tender 
of  service  in  the  preceding  winter,  and  the  inference  was  pretty 
plain  that  he  did  not  desire  to  utihze  it.*  If  such  was  the  secre- 
tary's intention  he  was  perhaps  not  much  to  blame;  for  Jackson's 
antipathy  to  the  commander  at  New  Orleans  was  well  known  in 
Washington.  No  good  could  have  been  expected  from  bringing 
the  two  men  together  under  the  proposed  conditions. 

Jackson  realized  the  seriousness  of  this  situation  and  with 
a  moderation  unusual  for  him  offered  to  subordinate  his 
feeling  and  serve  anywhere  his  country  might  call  him.*  There 
is  no  doubt  that  he  was  honest  in  his  intention,  but  it  is  never- 
theless fortunate  that  he  had  no  opportunity  to  test  his  power 
of  executing  his  resolve. 

Governor  Blount  took  legal  advice  and  decided  that,  inasmuch 
as  the  secretary's  orders  were  not  explicit,  discretion  was  given 
him  as  governor  to  appoint  the  commander  of  the  expedition  as 
seemed  best.  Accordingly  one  of  the  seventy  blank  commissions 
which  came  ready  signed  from  Washington  was  filled  with  the 
name  of  Andrew  Jackson,  who  thus  became  major-general  of 
United  States  volunteers.  Under  him  served  no  brigadier-general, 
but  there  were  three  colonels,  two  commanding  infantry  regi- 
ments, and  another,  the  redoubtable  Coffee,  leading  the  one 
cavalry  regiment. 

Colonel  John  Coffee  deserves  a  special  word  of  description. 
He  was  a  tall,  broad-shouldered,  and  honest  Westerner,  married 

>Secretary  of  War  to  Blount,  October  21  and  23,  1812,  Jackson  Mss. 
*JukioB  to  Blount,  November  11,  1812,  Jackson  Mss. 


82  THE  LIFE  OF  .\NDREW  JACKSON 

to  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Jackson  and  thus  bound  to  his  superior 
both  by  family  feeling  and  by  long  established  friendship.  Before 
this  he  had  been  Jackson's  business  partner;  but  the  quahties 
which  made  him  a  poor  merchant  did  not  keep  him  from  being  a 
good  soldier.  He  was  brave,  energetic,  and  always  loyal;  and  he 
was  destined  to  prove  an  invaluable  first  assistant  to  his  chief 
on  many  a  field  of  battle  from  1813  to  1815.  Two  other  subor- 
dinates must  not  be  omitted.  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  who  began 
the  cam^paign  as  lieutenant-colonel  of  one  of  the  two  infantry 
regiments  but  was  soon  made  aide  to  the  general,  was  later  to  be 
a  large  figure  among  those  political  friends  who  made  the  success 
of  the  Jacksonian  party  possible.  John  Reid,  another  aide, 
was  a  man  of  real  intellectual  abihty.  He  served  his  superior 
faithfully  till  the  end  of  the  New  Orleans  campaign,  and  before 
his  untimely  death  wrote  the  larger  part  of  the  biography 
which  is  usually  ascribed  to  Eaton. 

Parton  well  says  that  the  heart  of  Western  Tennessee  went 
down  the  river  with  this  Natchez  expedition.  The  militia  organ- 
ization was  closely  associated  with  the  political  organization 
and  the  leading  persons  in  the  community  were  at  its  head. 
It  was  they  who  volunteered  to  go  to  New  Orleans.  If  they 
returned  victorious  they  would  have  added  power  over  the  imag- 
ination of  the  community.  Their  patriotism,  also,  was  not  ques- 
tioned. Every  impulse  of  this  new  region  sprang  spontaneously 
to  the  defense  of  their  country.  The  governor  sped  them  with 
an  outburst  of  pious  confidence  which  a  calmer  people  might 
have  flouted.  Jackson  sent  for  reply  a  letter  in  which  was 
an  unwonted  tone  of  humility. 

"Brought  up,"  he  said,  "under  the  tyranny  of  Britain,  al- 
tho'  young  I  embarked  in  the  struggle  for  our  Hberties,  in  which 
I  lost  everything  that  was  dear  to  me,  my  brothers  and  my  fortune! 
for  which  I  have  been  amply  repaid,  by  living  under  the  mild 
administration    of    a    republican    government.     To    maintain 


EARLY  MILITARY  CAREER  83 

which  and  the  independent  rights  of  our  nation,  is  a  duty  I  have 
ever  owed  to  my  country,  myself  and  posterity.  And  when  I 
do  all  I  can  for  its  support,  I  have  only  done  my  duty,  and  it 
will  be  ever  grateful  to  my  reflection,  if  I  find  my  acts  and  my 
exertions  meet  your  approbation.  I  sincerely  respond  to  your 
Excellency's  letter,  in  praying  that  the  God  of  battles  may  be 
with  us,  and  that  high  Heaven  may  bestow  its  choicest  benedic- 
tions on  all  who  have  engaged  in  this  expedition." ' 

The  river  trip  was  uneventful,  and  on  February  15,  18 13,  the 
boats  arrived  at  Natchez  where  they  found  Coffee's  regiment 
and  joined  them  on  the  sixteenth.  To  Jackson's  surprise  he  found, 
also,  a  letter  from  Wilkinson  ordering  him  to  halt  where  he  was 
and  await  further  instructions.  Several  reasons  for  the  order 
were  given  by  its  author.  He  had  received  no  commands  from 
Washington  in  regard  to  the  expedition;  he  could  not  furnish 
it  with  provisions  in  New  Orleans;  and  if,  as  he  supposed,  the 
detachment  was  to  be  sent  against  Florida  it  could  best  proceed 
on  that  service  from  some  point  on  the  river  above  New  Orleans, 
as  from  Natchez  or  Baton  Rouge.  All  these  reasons  were  cour- 
teously expressed  in  several  letters  to  which  Jackson  replied  in 
similar  strain.' 

Wilkinson  may  be  pardoned  if  he  desired  to  avoid  a  possible 
conflict  with  Jackson.  He  had  a  letter  in  his  possession  from 
Governor  Blount,  informing  him  that  the  Tennessee  detachment 
was  a  coordinate  command.'  Probably  he  did  not  know  that 
the  Tennessee  commander  was  bringing  with  him,  in  spite  of 
many  pacific  assertions,  the  pair  of  duelling  pistols  which  did 
service  in  the  affair  with  Dickinson.  It  was  fortunate  that  these 
two  men  were  not  to  be  thrown  into  close  association. 

Jackson  was  greatly  disappointed  at  his  enforced  idleness 

'Jackson  to  Blount,  January  4,  1812,  Jackson  Mss. 

'  Wilkinson  to  Jackson,  January  22  and  25,  February  22,  and  Match  i  and  8, 1815.    Jackson  to  Wilkinson 
February  21,  March  is.  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 
■Wilkinson  to  Jackson,  February  37,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 


84  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

in  Natchez.  He  placed  his  army  in  camp  four  miles  from  the 
place  and  awaited  orders  to  move.  After  an  exasperating  month 
of  inactivity  he  received  on  March  15  a  still  greater  disappoint- 
ment. It  came  in  a  brief  letter  from  Armstrong,  secretary  of 
war,  which  ran  as  follows : 

Sir: — The  causes  of  embodying  and  marching  to  New  Or- 
leans the  coips  under  your  command  having  ceased  to  exist 
you  will,  on  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  consider  it  as  dismissed 
from  the  public  service,  and  take  measures  to  have  deUvered  over 
to  Major-General  Wilkinson  all  the  articles  of  public  property 
which  may  have  been  put  into  its  possession.  You  will  accept 
for  yourself  and  the  corps  the  thanks  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States.' 

This  order  was  preposterous,  and  Armstrong,  who  was  only 
two  days  in  office  when  it  was  written,  could  hardly  have  under- 
stood its  full  purport.  It  meant  that  the  volunteers  were  to  be 
turned  adrift  in  the  wilderness,  to  return  to  their  homes  as  they 
could,  and  with  small  thanks  for  their  patriotism.  March  22, 
after  there  was  time  to  hear  from  Natchez,  the  secretary  explained 
that  he  wrote  his  dismissal  in  the  belief  that  it  would  reach 
the  troops  before  they  went  far  on  their  journey,  and  he  gave 
full  instructions  for  paying  the  expenses  of  the  return  to  Nash- 
ville.    His  intentions  seem  to  have  been  good.' 

But  Jackson  was  hardly  expected  to  see  this.  All  his  hopes 
appeared  to  be  destroyed,  and  dark  suggestions  of  plotting  came 
into  his  mind.  He  restrained  himself  enough  to  write  temper- 
ately a  letter  to  the  President  in  which  he  said  that  he  con- 
sidered as  a  mistake  that  part  of  the  order  which  directed  him 
to  give  up  his  tents  and  other  equipment  and  announced  that  he 
would  disregard  it.'  He  pushed  forward  his  arrangements  to 
take  the  whole  column  back  to  Tennessee. 


•Armstrong  to  Jackson,  February  6,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 
•Armstrong  to  Jackson,  March  22,  and  April  10,  1813,  Jackson,  Mss. 
'Jackson  to  Madison,  March  is,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 


EARLY  MILITARY  CAREER  85 

But  beneath  the  surface  his  anger  was  boiling.  To  Governor 
Blount  he  wrote  as  he  felt.  Armstrong's  order,  he  said,  was  but 
a  scheme  to  have  the  militia  stranded  far  from  home  in  the  hope 
that  Wilkinson's  enlisting  of&cers,  who  were  already  hovering 
around  the  camp,  might  draw  them  into  the  regular  service,* 
To  his  officers  he  expressed  himself  with  equal  freedom  and  swore 
that  not  one  of  his  men  should  be  left  at  Natchez  who  wanted 
to  go  home.  To  the  volunteers  he  sent  a  fiery  proclamation 
denouncing  the  whole  situation.  It  was  a  question,  he  said,  if 
they  had  been  treated  justly  by  the  government  and  by  their  own 
congressmen,  but  they  might  rely  on  it,  not  one  of  them,  sick 
or  well,  should  be  left  behind  when  the  column  marched.'  These 
sentiments  were  cordially  endorsed  by  the  men:  they  were  cal- 
culated to  secure  careful  consideration  from  the  state's  represen- 
tatives in  Washington.  They  show  that  he  knew  the  art  of 
appealing  to  the  people  long  before  he  was  associated  with  the  so- 
called  "Kitchen  Cabinet." 

Having  decided  to  return,  Jackson  lost  no  time  to  put  his 
army  in  motion.  He  drew  twenty  days'  rations  from  the  com- 
missary department  at  Natchez  and  urged  Blount  to  forward 
other  supplies  to  the  Tennessee  River  and  thus  relieve  him  from 
the  necessity  of  taking  them  from  the  inhabitants  "vie  et  armis." ' 
But  the  deputy-quartermaster,  who  was  under  Wilkinson's 
authority,  did  not  feel  authorized  to  pay  the  cost  of  transporting 
the  sick,  and  it  was  necessary  for  Jackson  to  pledge  his  own 
credit  to  meet  this  expense.*  He  did  it  cheerfully,  and  the 
government  as  willingly  relieved  him  of  the  responsibility  when 
the  matter  came  to  its  attention.'    It  was  on  this  return  march 


'Jackson  to  Blount,  March  15,  1813,  Jackson  Mss.  He  retained  this  notion  even  after  ample  explanation 
came  from  the  secretary.     Jackson  to  Governor  Holmes,  April  24,  1813,  Jacks  jn  Mss. 

'Jackson   Mss.,    March,    1813. 

'Jackson  to  Blount,  March  15,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 

'Jackson  to  R.  Andrews,  July  12, 1813,  Jackson  Mss.  See  also  W.  B.  Lewis  to  Coffee,  April  g,  1813,  JawJc- 
son  Mss.,  by  which  it  appears  that  some  of  Jackson's  friends  pledged  money  to  aid  in  assuming  the  reapon- 
ibility. 

'Jackson  to  Governor  Holmes   of  Mississippi  Territor.y,   April  24,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 


86  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

that  the  soldiers  gave  him  the  nickname,  "Old  Hickory,"  in 
admiration  for  his  tenacity  and  endurance. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Nashville  he  learned  that  the  Natchez 
quartermaster  refused  to  pay  the  wagoners  who  helped  to  carry 
the  sick  to  the  Tennessee  River.'  This  caused  further  irritation,  but 
a  reference  of  the  matter  to  Washington  removed  the  difficulties. 

Jackson's  attitude  in  this  affair  was  made  to  do  good  service 
in  the  political  campaigns  in  which  he  was  later  concerned. 
His  friends  asserted  that  he  assumed  the  responsibility  for  all 
the  expenses  of  the  homeward  journey;  and  the  imagination 
of  Benton  served  to  put  it  in  such  permanent  form  that  it  has 
secured  a  strong  position  in  the  pubHshed  histories  of  the  expedi- 
tion. The  truth,  as  shown  in  the  correspondence,  is  that  the 
general's  assumption  of  responsibiUty  extended  no  further  than 
to  hire  thirteen  wagons  and  twenty-six  pack-horses  to  carry  the 
sick,  and  that  he  became  personally  responsible  for  the  forage 
which  the  horses  consumed.  Benton  also  gives  an  entertaining 
account  of  how  he  finally  persuaded  the  war  department  to  allow 
these  accounts,  but  from  his  own  letter  to  Jackson  this  part 
of  the  narrative  assumes  the  following  form: 

It  happened  that  Colonel  Benton  returned  from  Natchez 
with  decided  ambitions  of  a  military  nature.  It  also  happened 
that  he  knew  that  the  government  expected  to  raise  a  new  regi- 
ment of  regular  troops  in  Tennessee.  He  thought  this  an  oppor- 
tunity to  gratify  his  ambition  and  went  to  Washington  to  apply 
for  a  colonel's  commission.  Jackson  readily  gave  him  letters 
of  recommendation  to  the  secretary  of  war'  and  made  him  his 
messenger  in  regard  to  the  pay  of  the  wagoners.  June  15,  Ben- 
ton was  able  to  report  success  in  regard  to  the  claims.  The 
secretary,  he  said,  first  inquired  if  the  claims  were  approved  by 
the    deputy-quartermaster-general    at  New  Orleans  and  was 


•Jackson  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  May  lo,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 
••'  Ibid. 


EARLY  MILITARY  CAREER  87 

told  that  this  officer  had  no  authority  in  regard  to  them.  It  was 
decided  to  approve  them  in  the  accountant's  office  in  Washing- 
ton. Benton  went  away,  but  reahzing  how  much  delay  this 
would  occasion  he  wrote  and  urged  that  an  agent  be  allowed  to 
audit  the  claims  in  Tennessee.  After  some  delay  this  request 
was  granted  in  an  order  dated  June  14,  which  left  nothing  to  be 
desired  by  Jackson.  Benton  in  his  later  account  asserted  that 
he  had  to  threaten  the  administration  with  a  loss  of  Tennessee 
votes  in  order  to  get  this  tardy  justice,  but  there  is  really  nothing 
in  his  report  to  show  that  the  war  department  was  not  incHned 
to  pay  the  claims  or  that  the  hesitation  was  anything  more  than 
a  mere  matter  of  detail  as  to  the  manner  of  settlement. 

Benton's  report  in  regard  to  his  own  affairs  is  interesting. 
But  one  regiment,  he  said,  would  be  raised  in  Tennessee,  and  for 
that  John  Williams,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more  later,  was  to  be 
colonel  and  he,  Benton,  Ueutenant-colonel.  He  himself,  he  said, 
tried  in  vain  to  convince  the  secretary  that  two  regiments  ought 
to  be  formed  in  the  state:  this  would,  under  existing  regulations, 
mean  a  Tennessee  brigade,  with  a  brigadier-general  and  two 
colonels.  The  inference  was  plain,  but  he  made  it  plainer  still 
by  adding  that  some  congressmen  had  it  in  mind  to  propose 
Jackson  for  appointment  the  first  time  there  should  be  a  vacant 
brigadier-generalship." 

Before  the  end  of  the  year  the  new  regiment,  the  thirty- 
ninth,  was  organized,  and  Williams  and  Benton  received  their 
commissions.  They  saw  service  in  the  South,  but  in  September 
the  lieutenant-colonel  became  the  enemy  of  Jackson  through 
the  Benton  affair.  From  that  beginning  grew  a  bitter  personal 
enmity  and  the  new  regiment  saw  no  conspicuous  service  in  the 
exciting  times  just  ahead.  Williams  and  Benton  are  almost  the 
only  Tennesseeans  of  prominence  who  went  through  the  war 
without  achieving  distinction. 

'Benton  to  Jackson,  June  15,  1813;  Jackson  to  R.  Andrews,  July  12,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 


CHAPTER  VII 

AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER 

The  Natchez  expedition  was  a  success  in  all  but  actual  fighting. 
It  seasoned  officers  and  privates  by  four  months  of  campaign- 
ing and  whetted  their  appetites  for  more  serious  service.  When 
they  volunteered  it  was  for  one  year,  and  when  they  were  dis- 
missed in  March  they  went  home  subject  to  another  call 
for  duty.  They  were  hardly  there  before  disquieting 
information  came  from  the  South.  The  Creek  Indians 
were  giving  unmistakable  signs  of  hostihty.  Jackson  received 
his  wound  from  Jesse  Benton  on  September  4;  and  within 
two  weeks  he  learned  that  his  services  were  again  needed  in 
the  field. 

A  century  ago  the  region  south  of  the  Tennessee  River  was 
popularly  known  as  "the  Creek  Country."  By  the  early  in- 
habitants of  that  region  its  settlement  was  considered  essential 
to  the  welfare  of  the  Tennesseeans;  for  the  best  water  communi- 
cation from  the  Holston  settlements  to  the  outside  world  was 
through  its  borders.  Down  the  Tennessee  the  traveler  may  go 
by  boat  to  the  vicinity  of  Huntsville,  Alabama,  from  which  by  a 
portage  of  fifty  miles  he  may  gain  the  upper  Coosa,  which  unites 
with  the  Tallapoosa  in  the  very  heart  of  the  old  Creek  territory 
to  form  the  Alabama,  which  in  turn  becomes  the  Mobile  when  it 
receives  the  waters  of  the  Tombigbee  near  the  Florida  border. 
It  seemed  to  the  transmontane  settlers  that  nature  designed  this 
line  of  communication  for  their  special  use.  The  idea  was  not 
less  attractive  because  the  Creek  lands  were  exceedingly  fertile. 
In  1813,  therefore,  both  interest  and  feeling  prompted  the  Amer- 

88 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER  89 

icans  to  suppress  the  ancient  annoyance  they  received  from  the 
Indians  and  to  spoil  them  of  their  inheritance. 

The  Creeks  reahzed  this  situation.  Their  old  ally  was  Spain 
with  whom  most  Americans  of  the  war  party  desired  a  conflict. 
Spain,  however,  would  not  fight,  not  even  when  Wilkinson  in  the 
spring  of  18 13  seized  Mobile  and  held  it  as  American  territory 
under  the  ten-year-old  claim  which  his  government  asserted  to 
it.  To  her,  in  fact,  war  would  have  been  sheer  madness.  In 
Europe  her  resources  were  exhausted  to  the  last  extremity  by 
the  long  struggle  against  Napoleon.  In  South  and  Central 
America  her  colonies  were  on  the  point  of  revolution.  War  with 
America  in  support  of  the  Creeks  meant  the  loss  of  Florida, 
to  which  she  could  not  send  a  regiment  without  great  sacrifice. 
It  was  her  poHcy  to  be  neutral.  But  the  British  were  at  war, 
and  the  Indians  turned  to  them.  Agents  came  with  the  offer 
of  an  alliance,  and  it  was  accepted.  Arms  and  ammunition  were 
promised  and  later  some  were  sent. 

More  notable  was  the  influence  of  Tecumseh.  This  remarkable 
man  appeared  in  October,  181 1,  at  a  Creek  council  held  at  the 
ancient  town  of  Tuckaubatchee,  on  the  upper  Tallapoosa,  and 
made  one  of  his  effective  pleas  for  a  union  of  all  the  red  men  of 
the  West  against  the  extension  of  the  settlements.  Standing 
like  a  statue  in  the  midst  of  a  silent  group  of  warriors  he  held 
aloft  his  war  club  in  one  hand  and  slowly  loosened  finger  after 
finger  till  at  last  it  fell  to  the  ground.  This  savage  pantonoine 
to  express  the  results  of  disunion  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
young  braves.  When  Tecumseh  was  gone,  hostihties  did  not 
immediately  begin,  but  there  sprang  up  in  his  wake  a  number  of 
prophets  who  kept  his  ideas  ahve  and  who  by  magic  and  the 
promises  of  supernatural  assistance  fired  the  Creek  heart  to  a 
great  struggle  of  national  self-preservation.  Benjamin  Hav/kins, 
since  1797  Creek  agent  and  hitherto  much  loved  by  the  Indians, 
found  that  his  influence  with  the  younger  warriors  was  gone,  and 


90  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

the  best  he  could  do  for  his  government  was  to  build  up  a  small 
party  of  more  conservative  chiefs  who  tried  to  restrain  the  others 
from  war. 

The  information  that  hostihties  with  England  were  actually 
begun  created  great  excitement  in  the  Indian  towns,  and  a  party 
of  warriors  set  out  for  the  North  where  they  took  part  in  the 
attack  on  the  Americans  at  the  river  Raisin,  January  22,  18 13. 
Returning  from  that  engagement,  the  blood  thirst  still  hot  in 
them,  they  murdered  two  white  families  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ohio.  For  this  outrage  the  Americans  demanded  reparation; 
and  the  old  men,  anxious  to  preserve  peace,  sent  runners 
through  the  forests  to  kill  the  violators  of  the  law.  This 
was  the  Indian  custom  of  executing  persons  adjudged  to 
die.  In  this  case  the  murderers  were  all  slain,  but  the 
war  party  were  only  further  excited  and  not  awed  into 
submission.  Within  a  short  while  two  thousand  warriors 
from  twenty-nine  of  the  thirty-four  towns  of  the  Upper  Creeks 
took  up  arms. 

The  center  of  the  Creek  country  was  the  junction  of  the  Coosa 
and  Tallapoosa  Rivers  near  which  was  the  ''Hickory  Ground," 
a  sacred  meeting  place  of  the  tribes,  thought  to  be  so  well  pro- 
tected by  their  gods  that  no  white  man  could  tread  it  and  live. 
Near  this,  chiefly  on  the  Tallapoosa,  were  the  towns  of  the  Upper 
Creeks,  while  farther  south  was  the  group  of  villages  known  as 
Lower  Creeks.  In  all  they  embraced  about  seven  thousand 
warriors,  of  whom  the  hostile  party  by  midsummer,  18 13,  was 
about  four  thousand.  Not  more  than  a  third  of  these,  it  was 
said,  had  guns;  and  ammunition  was  very  scarce.  All  their 
supplies  must  be  obtained  at  this  time  from  Florida,  where  the 
Spanish  officials  refused  to  sell  more  than  enough  for  hunting. 
To  this  item  of  weakness  add  the  fact  that  there  were  always 
some  friendly  Creeks  who  actually  helped  the  Americans  against 
their  brethren,  and  we  may  see  that  the  savages  were  poorly 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER  91 

prepared  to  contend  with  the  soldiers  whose  vengeance  they  were 
rashly  inviting. 

The  probabiHty  of  a  Creek  war  was  understood  in  Washington 
and  plans  were  made  for  opposing  it.  It  was  proposed  to  send 
three  columns  into  the  disaffected  region;  one  from  Georgia 
containing  fifteen  hundred  militia,  another  from  Tennessee  of 
like  strength  and  another  —  the  3d  regiment  of  regulars  — 
from  the  southward  up  the  Alabama  River.  The  whole 
to  be  under  the  supervision  of  Major-General  Thomas 
Pinckney,  commander  of  the  district.  The  success  of  this 
plan  would  depend  on  exact  and  active  cooperation  between 
the  three  columns,  and  in  a  region  as  trying  as  the  Creek  country 
this  was  very  difficult.  It  gave  the  Indians,  if  they  were  alert, 
the  opportunity  to  attack  their  foes  in  detail;  and  it  was  likely 
to  leave  the  severest  fighting  to  one  of  the  three  attacking  forces. 
Such,  indeed,  proved  to  be  the  result  when  the  plan  was  put  into 
execution:  the  heaviest  fighting  fell  on  Jackson  with  his  Ten- 
nesseeans.  The  secretary's  plan  was  submitted  to  the  governor 
of  Tennessee  for  his  opinion  on  July  13,  18 13.' 

Before  a  move  could  be  made  the  Indians  began  the  war  by 
a  bloody  stroke.  The  inhabitants  of  the  more  exposed  section  of 
the  frontier  were  fleeing  to  block-houses  for  protection.  A  large 
number  took  refuge  in  a  fortified  stockade  of  Samuel  Mims  on 
Lake  Tensaw,  and  the  authorities  sent  Major  Beasley  with  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  militia  to  protect  them.  In  August 
the  place,  popularly  called  Fort  Mims,  held  five  hundred  and 
fifty- three  persons  of  all  conditions.  Beasley  was  singularly 
inefficient  and  in  spite  of  warnings  left  the  gates  unguarded. 
On  the  thirtieth,  when  the  signal  was  given  for  the  noonday  din- 
ner, one  thousand  Creeks  rushed  from  the  coverts,  gained  the 
unfastened  gates,  and  proceeded  to  destroy  the  inmates  at  their 
pleasure.     Most  of  the  Negroes  were  spared  for  slaves,  twelve  of 

•Armstrong  to  Blount,  July  13,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 


92  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

the  whites  cut  their  way  to  liberty,  but  the  rest,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  in  number,  were  slain.  It  was  a  crushing  stroke,  and  from 
one  end  of  the  border  to  the  other  rose  a  cry  for  vengeance. 

Nowhere  did  the  tidings  from  Fort  Mims  arouse  more  horror 
than  in  West  Tennessee,  where  the  inhabitants  daily  expected 
an  attack.  In  fact,  it  was  only  through  the  failure  of  the  Brit- 
ish to  furnish  the  Creeks  with  expected  suppHes  that  such  a 
calamity  was  avoided.'  To  meet  this  danger  the  community 
assumed  the  offensive  without  waiting  for  the  authority  of  the 
government,  and  all  eyes  turned  to  Jackson.  September  i8, 
there  was  a  meeting  of  leading  citizens  in  Nashville  to  consider 
measures  of  defense.  They  decided  that  a  strong  force  ought  to 
be  sent  at  once  into  the  heart  of  the  Creek  territory  to  destroy 
their  villages  and  force  them  to  make  peace.  They  asked  the 
legislature  to  authorize  such  a  move,  and  at  their  request  the 
governor  agreed  to  call  out  for  immediate  service  the  recently 
dismissed  Natchez  volunteers.  The  assembly  was  as  complai- 
sant as  the  governor,  and  a  week  later  called  also  for  three  thou- 
sand five  hundred  detached  militia  for  a  three  months'  tour  of 
duty.  It  was  a  hearty  response  to  a  public  necessity  and  marks 
a  high  state  of  patriotism  in  Tennessee.  If  every  state  in  the 
union  had  displayed  the  same  kind  of  war  spirit,  the  story  of 
the  national  struggle  would  have  been  different. 

A  committee  from  the  meeting  on  September  i8,  waited  on 
Jackson  to  know  if  he  would  be  able  to  take  the  field  at  the  head 
of  the  volunteers.  They  found  him  in  bed  from  the  wound  he 
received  on  the  fourth  of  the  month  in  the  affair  with  Benton; 
but  he  expressed  the  greatest  confidence  in  his  ability  to  lead  his 
division.  He  did,  in  fact,  at  once  assume  direction  of  the  move- 
ment for  defense,  calling  the  volunteers  to  assemble  at  Fayette- 
ville,  Tennessee,  on  October  4,  arranging  for  supphes  of  food  and 
ammunition,  and  writing  many  letters  on  all  kinds  of  similar  sub- 

•Governor  Blount  to  Jackson,  Oct.  i8,  1813.    Jackson  Mss. 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORI   STROTHER  93 

jects.  In  one  of  the  letters  he  said:  "The  late  fracture  of  my  left 
arm  will  render  me  for  a  while  less  active  than  formerly.     Still 

1  march  and  before  we  return,  if  the  general  government  will 
only  hands  off  —  we  will  give  peace  in  Israel." '  Jackson's  peace 
was  likely  to  be  a  grim  one. 

Before  he  could  assemble  his  forces  news  came  that  Madison 
County,  in  Mississippi  Territory,  was  threatened  by  the  savages. 
This  county  embraced  a  large  part  of  the  northern  region  of  the 
present  states  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  and  Huntsville,  in 
the  latter  state,  was  its  most  populous  center.  It  was  the  natural 
approach  to  the  theatre  of  his  coming  exploits.  To  reHeve  its 
danger  Jackson  sent  Coffee  forward  with  three  hundred  cavalry 
and  mounted  riflemen,  and  hastened  the  preparations  of  the 
main  body.  On  October  4  th,  his  wound  was  not  healed  enough 
for  him  to  take  up  the  march,  nor  were  all  the  arrangements  com- 
pleted. On  the  seventh,  however,  he  rode  into  camp  weak  and 
haggard  and  took  personal  direction  of  the  army.  Immediately 
came  urgent  calls  from  Coffee,  who  reported  that  he  was  about 
to  be  attacked.  On  the  tenth,  at  nine  in  the  morning,  camp  was 
broken  and  at  eight  in  the  evening  the  troops  were  near  Hunts- 
ville, having  marched  thirty-two  miles.  The  general  intended  to 
take  them  into  town  before  stopping,  but  he  learned  that  Coffee's 
perils  were  exaggerated  and  went  into  camp  where  he  was.  For 
a  commander  with  a  lame  shoulder  this  was  a  good  day's  journey. 
On  the  next  day  he  reached  the  Tennessee  at  Ditto's  Landing, 
a  few  miles  south  of  Huntsville,  and  crossing  the  river  united 
his  forces  with  Coffee's.  Here  he  halted  for  a  few  days,  seeking 
a  favorable  place  for  a  fortified  depot  of  suppHes.     On  October 

2  2d,  he  moved  up  the  river  from  Ditto's  in  a  southeasterly  direc- 
tion for  twenty-four  miles  and  laid  out  at  the  mouth  of  Thomp- 
son's Creek  the  fortification  which  he  called  Fort  Deposit.     It 

>Jackson  to  Governor  Holmes  (Miss.).  September  26,  181,?.  Jackson  Ms,<;. 


94  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

was  his  base  of  supplies  and  looked  frowningly  upon  the  wil- 
derness into  whose  fateful  mysteries  he  longed  to  plunge. 

The  Tennessee  forces  were  now  organized  in  two  bodies,  fol- 
lowing the  two  militia  divisions,  each  containing  about  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  men.  One  of  them  was  from  the  east 
and  was  commanded  by  Major-General  John  Cocke,  regular 
commander  of  the  second  division  of  militia.  The  other  was 
from  the  west  and  was  commanded  by  Jackson.  It  included 
the  United  States  volunteers  to  the  number  of  two  thousand 
and  a  supplementary  body  of  militia  numbering  nearly  a  thou- 
sand. Both  divisions  were  under  the  command  of  the  governor, 
but  otherwise  acted  separately.  Cocke  was  ordered  south- 
ward from  Knoxville  by  way  of  Chattanooga  into  what  is  now 
northwestern  Georgia  and  northeastern  Alabama,  with  instruc- 
tions to  cooperate  with  the  Georgia  militia  and  with  the  regulars 
who  were  moving  on  the  hostile  Indians,  and  to  protect  the 
friendly  Creek  towns  in  this  region.' 

The  orders  to  Jackson  were  to  ''act  in  conjunction  with  the 
forces  relied  on  for  the  expedition  or  separately  as  your  knowledge 
of  the  circumstances  may  teach  the  propriety  of,  first  making 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  concert  with  Major-General 
Cocke  and  Colonel  Meigs."'  If  the  two  divisions  should  unite, 
Jackson  as  senior  ojQScer  would  have  the  command.  His  letters 
show  that  he  expected  a  junction,  but  nothing  in  the  instructions 
contemplated  it. 

Jackson's  plan  of  campaign  provided  for  a  base  of  supplies 
on  the  Tennessee  at  its  southernmost  part,  a  miHtary  road  thence 
for  fifty  miles  to  the  Ten  Islands  on  the  Coosa,  where  another 
fortified  post  would  be  established  for  suppHes,  and  thence  down 
the    Alabama    River    system    to    Fort    St.  Stephens,  always 


>B1ount  to  Cocke,  September  25,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 
,  'Blount  to  Jackson,  October  4, 1813,  and  November  17, 1813,  Jackson  Mss.    Meigs  was  agent  among  the 

Cherokee?. 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER  95 

destroying  such  armed  bands  as  opposed  him  and  devastating 
villages  as  he  went.  By  this  plan  he  would  establish  a  permanent 
line  of  communication  from  East  Tennessee  to  Mobile.  It  had 
the  advantage,  also,  of  being  adjusted  to  the  general  plan  which 
was  suggested  to  Blount  by  the  secretary  of  war,  and  which 
its  author  must  have  seen  before  he  left  Nashville.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  in  itself  a  complete  military  movement  and  if  made 
in  force  would  succeed  without  reference  to  the  success  or  failure 
of  the  cooperating  columns.  He  did  not  rely  greatly  on  aid  from 
the  Georgia  militia  or  from  the  regulars  by  way  of  Mobile.  He 
believed  that  by  uniting  with  Cocke's  division  at  the  friendly 
village  of  Turkey  Town  on  the  upper  Coosa  he  could  make  a 
quick  dash  southward,  wreaking  vengeance  as  he  went,  until  he 
dictated  peace  before  the  end  of  the  year  on  the  Hickory  Ground.' 

This  project  would  necessarily  make  heavy  demands  on  the 
newly  organized  and  imperfect  commissary  department  of  the 
army.  Provisions  were  abundant  in  East  Tennessee,  and  to 
carry  them  down  the  Tennessee  River  in  ordinary  times  was  not 
a'  great  task.  But  to  gather  and  convey  them  in  the  autumn, 
when  the  river  was  very  low,  and  to  convey  them  from  Fort 
Deposit  across  the  wilderness  road,  and  down  the  Coosa  in  the 
wake  of  the  impetuous  general  was  not  an  easy  task.  It  de- 
manded a  well  organized,  well  equipped,  and  well  experienced 
commissary;  and  such  a  department  Jackson  did  not  have. 

The  first  intimation  he  had  of  trouble  of  this  kind  came  at 
Ditto's  Landing  when  he  announced  to  the  contractors  that 
he  would  soon  need  rations  on  the  Coosa.  To  his  astonishment 
the  reply  was  that  such  a  thing  was  impossible.  Jackson 
stormed,  as  was  his  custom,  and  ended  by  removing  his  contrac- 
tors and  employing  others.  These  gave  fair  promises  but  did 
little  more  than  the  first.  The  contractor  system  of  supplying 
provisions  was  bad  in  itself,  and  caused  disappointment  in  the 

>Jackson  to  Governor  Early  (Georgia),  October  lo,  1813.  Jackson  Mss. 


96  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

army  till  it  was  abandoned.  Nor  is  Jackson  to  be  entirely  re- 
lieved from  responsibility  for  the  trouble.  He  was,  undoubtedly, 
more  eager  than  cautious.  A  calmer  man  would  have  hesitated 
to  lead  an  active  winter  campaign  into  the  Alabama  mountains 
until  assured  of  an  abundance  of  provisions. 

While  these  difficulties  engaged  his  attention  the  road  to 
the  Coosa  was  being  opened  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Within  a 
week  it  was  ready  for  use,  and  leading  his  army  over  its  stumps 
and  rude  bridges  he  came,  about  November  ist,  to  the  Coosa  at 
the  Ten  Islands,  where  he  erected  another  fortified  base  and 
called  it  Fort  Strother.  If  it  was  difficult  to  place  supplies  at 
Fort  Deposit,  it  was  far  more  difficult  to  place  them  at  this  new 
base.  The  whole  reliance  was  on  contractors,  who  were  expected 
to  have  rations  deposited  for  3,000  men  forty  days  ahead.  This 
meant  the  accumulation  by  them  of  a  large  number  of  wagons 
and  teams,  an  operation  for  which  they  showed  little  energy. 
It  was  not  till  Jackson  took  this  part  of  the  work  into  his  own 
hands,  impressing  wagons  and  horses  in  Madison  County,  that 
it  was  possible  to  bring  up  his  supplies  with  any  degree  of  regu- 
larity. 

The  army  was  now  organized  in  three  brigades.  The  first 
was  commanded  by  Brigadier- General  William  Hall  and  was 
composed  of  two  regiments  of  volunteer  infantry  under  Colonels 
Bradley  and  Pillow.  The  second  was  commanded  by  Brigadier- 
General  Isaac  Roberts  and  was  composed  of  two  regiments  of 
militiamen  under  Colonels  Wynne  and  McCrary.  The  third  was 
commanded  by  Brigadier-General  John  Coffee  and  was  composed 
of  a  regiment  of  volunteer  cavalry  under  Colonel  Alcorn  and  a 
regiment  of  mounted  riflemen  under  Colonel  Newton  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Allen.  The  first  brigade  numbered  1,400, 
the  second  was  probably  something  more  than  six  hundred,  and 
the  third  contained  1,000  men.' 

KJcneral  Orders,  October  lo  and  30,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER  97 

At  Fort  Strother  Jackson  came  for  the  first  time  within  strik- 
ing distance  of  the  foe.  Thirteen  miles  to  the  eastward  was 
the  hostile  village  of  Tallushatchee  with  nearly  two  hundred 
warriors,  and  Coffee  was  sent  to  destroy  it.  On  the  morning 
of  November  3d,  his  men,  1,000  strong,  were  in  line  around 
the  village,  the  inhabitants  of  which  by  shouts  and  other  ex- 
pressions of  defiance  raised  such  a  commotion  that  he  believed 
them  equal  in  number  to  his  own  troops.  By  a  feint  he  drew 
them  out  of  their  position,  which  was  strong,  surrounded  them 
with  all  his  forces,  and  steadily  cut  them  to  pieces.  Not  a 
warrior  escaped,  and  in  the  confusion  some  of  the  women  were 
slain  with  the  men.  The  Indians  did  not  ask  for  quarter  and 
the  whites  did  not  offer  it ;  for  this  was  a  war  in  which  prisoners 
were  rarely  taken.  Coffee  reported  that  he  slew  168  and  a 
few  more  whose  bodies  were  not  found:  eighty-four  Indian 
women  and  children  were  taken  captive.  The  loss  of  the  whites 
was  five  killed  and  forty-one  wounded.  This  first  blow  gave  cour- 
age to  the  rest  of  the  army  at  Fort  Strother,  and  strengthened 
the  confidence  of  the  friendly  Indians.  In  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
moment  it  was  forgotten  that  it  was  won  with  an  immense  dis- 
parity of  numbers  and  equipment.  Coffee  reported  that  his 
opponents  first  fired  with  guns  and  then  fought  with  bows  and 
arrows.' 

No  sooner  was  the  cavalry  back  at  Fort  Strother  than  news 
came  which  put  the  whole  army  into  motion.  Thirty  miles  to 
the  south  was  the  friendly  village  of  Talladega  with  a  population 
of  154  persons.  It  was  now  ascertained  that  for  some  days  it 
had  been  surrounded  by  more  than  a  thousand  hostiles,  whose 
investment  was  so  close  that  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  get 
messengers  through  to  Jackson.  But  after  several  days  of 
siege  a  chieftain  disguised  in  the  skin  of  a  hog  escaped  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  besiegers  and  reached  Fort  Strother  on  the  seventh. 

'Coffee's  report  is  in  Parton,  Jacksan,  I.,  436     Jackson's  report  says  one  warrior  escaped. 


98  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

He  reported  the  extremity  of  the  Talladegas  and  declared  that 
help  to  be  effective  must  be  speedy. 

Before  dawn  of  the  following  day  Jackson  was  on  the  march 
with  1,200  infantry  and  800  cavalry.  He  left  his  wounded  at 
the  fort  with  a  small  guard;  and  for  their  better  protection 
he  urged  Brigadier- General  White,  who,  leading  Cocke's  advance, 
had  approached  to  the  neighborhood,  to  protect  the  fort.  It 
was  like  Jackson  to  take  all  his  available  force  on  this  expedition, 
although  in  doing  so  he  had  double  the  number  of  the  enem}^ 
He  was  never  a  man  to  risk  a  battle  without  ha\dng  all  the  odds 
possible  on  his  own  side. 

At  sunrise  on  the  ninth  he  was  before  Talladega,  and  the 
Indians  came  out  to  give  him  battle.  He  arranged  his  troops 
in  a  crescent  with  the  points  thrown  forward.  On  the  flanks 
he  placed  his  cavalry,  with  orders  to  fall  on  the  rear  of  the  enemy 
as  soon  as  the  engagement  became  general.  A  mounted  reserve 
was  behind  the  main  line.  In  opening  the  battle  he  employed 
the  feint  which  Coffee  used  so  effectively  at  Tallushatchee.  He 
sent  forward  some  companies  who  fired  four  or  five  rounds  and 
fell  back  to  the  main  line  while  the  enemy  eagerly  rushed  for- 
ward. Immediately  the  circle  of  Americans  was  formed  as 
planned  by  their  leader.  The  Creeks,  hotly  engaged  on  their 
front,  were  soon  discouraged  and  turned  to  fly.  To  their  con- 
fusion they  found  themselves  surrounded.  Turning  hither  and 
thither  for  an  avenue  of  safety  they  encountered  a  circle  of  re- 
lentless marksmen  whose  rifles  claimed  victims  at  every  moment. 
They  were  in  a  fair  way  to  be  exterminated  when  an  accident 
offered  a  door  of  escape  to  a  large  part  of  them.  Early  in  the 
battle  a  portion  of  the  infantry  retreated  from  the  front  of  the 
enemy.  It  was  now  necessary  to  dismount  the  reserves  and 
throw  them  into  the  breach,  and  that  body  was  no  longer  avail- 
able for  an  emergency.  When,  therefore,  the  hunted  fugitives 
found  a  sUght  gap  between  the  cavalry  and  the  infantry  and 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER  99 

began  to  pour  through  it,  there  was  no  force  which  could  be 
quickly  sent  to  check  them.  Thus  it  happened  that  nearly 
seven  hundred  slipped  out  of  Jackson's  fingers  to  oppose  him 
another  day.  Could  he  have  made  an  end  of  them  here  the 
battle  of  Tohopeka  might  have  been  avoided.  As  it  was,  more 
than  three  hundred  Indians  were  slain,  while  the  loss  of  the 
Tennesseeans  was  only  fifteen  killed  and  eighty-five  wounded.' 

At  Talladega  Jackson  was  only  eighty  miles  from  the  Hickory 
Ground,  where  he  hoped  to  end  the  war.  The  engagements  of 
the  third  and  ninth  left  the  foe  badly  shattered,  and  less  than 
another  month  of  active  campaigning  must  have  completed 
their  discomfiture.  Brilliant  as  that  prospect  was,  it  was  nec- 
essary to  relinquish  it  and  return  to  Fort  Strother.  The  ar- 
rival of  provisions  was  almost  at  a  standstill,  and  it  was  becoming 
a  question,  not  of  further  advance,  but  of  holding  the  position 
on  the  Coosa.  Furthermore,  news  came  that  White's  brigade 
was  recalled  by  Cocke  and  the  fort  with  its  wounded  was  left 
undefended.  Jackson's  retrograde  movement  at  this  particular 
time  had  a  bad  effect  on  both  friendly  and  hostile  Indians. 
Sufi'ering  from  his  wound,  ill  from  other  disease,  with  the  whole 
burden  of  the  expedition  on  his  shoulders,  he  was  very  angry 
with  the  persons  responsible  for  his  embarrassments.  He  railed 
at  his  quartermasters,  began  a  long  quarrel  with  Cocke,  and 
wTote  scores  of  appeals  for  aid  from  every  promising  quarter. 
The  rest  of  the  year  was  one  of  military  inactivity,  beset  by  star- 
vation and  mutiny.  Some  of  his  best  friends  thought  he  ought 
to  recognize  the  inevitable  and  fall  back  to  the  frontier  till  sup- 
plies could  be  accumulated;  but  he  would  not  hear  them.  He 
said  he  would  maintain  his  advance  if  he  had  to  live  on  acorns.' 

During  this  period  of  distress  two  mutinies  occurred  in  his 


'Jackson's  report  is  in  Farton,  Jackson,  I.,  44a;  CoSee't  is  in  Ibid  I,  443. 

'Jackson  to  Lewis,  October  34, 1813,  Jackson  Mss.    The  story  that  Jackson  was  once  seen  dining  on  acorns 
is  probably  apocryphal. 


loo  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

camp,  the  first  from  the  lack  of  supplies  and  the  second 
from  a  conflict  of  opinion  in  interpreting  the  laws  under  which 
volunteers  and  militia  were  serving.  In  each  case  agita- 
tors were  present  who  fanned  the  flame.  In  the  accounts 
of  these  two  mutinies,  historians  have  usuaUy  depended  upon 
Reid  and  Eaton/  all  of  whose  information  was  on  Jackson's  side. 
He  himself  has  preserved  enough  of  the  petitions  and  letters 
of  the  discontented  ones  to  show  that  the  affair  had  another 
phase. 

The  first  protest  came  from  the  United  States  volunteers. 
On  the  return  from  Talladega  they  petitioned  to  be  led  back  to 
the  frontier  until  supplies  could  be  collected.  The  request  was 
not  granted,  and  November  14th,  their  field  officers  and  captains 
held  a  meeting  at  which  they  renewed  the  request  and  gave 
the  following  reasons:  (i)  Because  supplies  were  wanting.  Not 
more  than  ten  rations  had  been  issued  since  the  army  left  Fort 
Deposit  more  than  two  weeks  earlier,  and  "both  officers  and 
soldiers  have  been  compelled  to  subsist  for  five  days  on  less 
than  two  rations."  (2)  The  frontier  was  now  safe  and  the  con- 
tractors continued  to  deceive  the  soldiers  in  regard  to  supplies. 
(3)  The  order  for  their  assembling  was  issued  only  five  days  be- 
fore they  left  their  homes,  giving  them  no  time  to  provide  winter 
clothing,  so  that  they  now  needed  clothes  and  shoes  badly. 
This  address  was  loyal  and  respectful  and  had  the  air  of  truth- 
fulness. It  shows  that  the  army  was  in  a  wretched  condition; 
and  any  man  less  inflexible  than  Jackson  would  have  made  some 
concession  to  its  demands.* 

The  petition  of  the  volunteer  officers  was  reinforced  by  similar 
requests  from  other  bodies  of  troops,  but  to  all  Jackson  was 
unyielding.     Then  the  militia  mutinied  and  broke  ranks  to  go 


'Reid  and  Eaton,  Jackson,  62. 

•The  address  in  manuscript  is  among  the  Jackson  Mss.  it  is  not  dated,  but  the  address  of  the  oflBcers  of 
the  second  regiment  on  November  15,  shows  that  the  omitted  date  should  be  the  fourteenth.  See  alio 
Um  Mcond  regimeat  tn  Jackson,  November  13,  and  Jackson  to  Blount,  November  14,  1S13,  Jackson  Mss. 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER  loi 

home.  He  threw  the  volunteers  across  their  path,  and  the 
militia,  who  were  probably  not  deeply  in  the  affair,  returned  to 
their  places.  Next  the  volunteers  themselves  announced  that 
they  would  stay  no  longer,  and  were  marching  away  when  they 
were  confronted  by  the  now  loyal  militia  and  forced  back  to 
duty.  The  quickness  with  which  each  yielded  indicates  that 
neither  was  actuated  by  bad  motives  and  that  they  feared  to 
commit  an  action  which  would  stamp  them  as  disloyal  citizens 
throughout  Tennessee. 

At  last  Jackson  learned  that  provisions  had  arrived  in  sufficient 
quantities  at  Fort  Deposit.  Believing  they  would  reach  him 
immediately  he  issued  a  general  order  announcing  the  good 
news  and  saying  that  if  they  did  not  arrive  in  two  days  he  would 
consent  to  fall  back.  Two  days  passed  and  no  provisions 
came.  Then,  deeply  disappointed  and  distressed,  he  kept  his 
promise.  He  gave  the  order  to  march  but  declared  that  he 
would  continue  to  hold  Fort  Strother  if  only  two  men  would 
stay  with  him.  At  this  a  call  for  a  volunteer  garrison  was 
circulated,  and  109  men  offered  to  remain,  but  the  rest  of  the 
army  marched  joyfully  toward  the  Tennessee. 

Before  they  proceeded  more  than  twelve  miles  they  met  a 
drove  of  cattle  on  the  way  to  Fort  Strother.  It  was  the  supply 
which  was  expected  on  the  previous  day.  Orders  were  given 
to  kill  and  feast.  After  a  full  meal  the  command  was  given  to 
return  to  the  fort.  It  was  received  with  murmurings,  and  when 
the  men  were  ordered  to  march,  one  company,  in  spite  of  its 
officers,  started  homeward.  Jackson  was  now  enraged.  With 
a  few  followers  from  his  staff  he  threw  himself  in  front  of  the 
mutineers  and  by  threatening  to  fire  drove  them  back  to  the 
main  body,  which  with  much  scowling  and  muttering  refused 
to  resume  the  march.  Going  alone  among  the  men  he  found 
them  on  the  point  of  marching  homeward  in  a  mass.  It  was  a 
moment  of  crisis,  and  if  authority  were  not  now  enforced,  the 


I02  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

whole  campaign  would  be  lost.  The  towering  strength  of  his 
will  enabled  him  to  make  it  a  turning  point  in  his  military  career. 
His  left  arm  was  still  disabled,  but  he  seized  a  musket  in  his 
right  hand  and  using  the  neck  of  his  horse  for  a  rest  stood  de- 
fiantly before  the  whole  body  of  troops,  his  eyes  flashing  and 
his  shrill  voice  shouting  with  many  oaths  that  he  would  kill 
the  first  man  who  stepped  forward.  For  a  few  moments  he 
stood  alone;  then  he  was  joined  by  Reid  and  Coffee,  each  with 
a  musket;  and  then  some  loyal  companies  formed  across  the 
road  in  their  rear.  Seeing  this  the  mutineers  gradually  relin- 
quished their  defiance  and  sullenly  moved  away  on  the  road 
to  Fort  Strother.  From  this  time  provisions  were  ample  and 
the  first  phase  of  the  mutiny  was  over. 

But  the  spirit  of  discontent  was  not  destroyed  and  it  appeared 
in  another  form.  The  United  States  volunteers  were  mustered 
into  service  on  December  lo,  1812,  under  a  law  of  congress 
(February  6,  18 12),  which  provided  that  they  should  be  "bound 
to  continue  in  service  for  the  term  of  twelve  months  after  they 
should  have  arrived  at  the  place  of  rendezvous,  unless  sooner 
discharged." '  It  also  provided  that  each  infantryman  when 
discharged  should  receive  as  a  gift  the  musket  with  which  he 
had  fought  and  each  cavalryman  his  sword  and  pistols.  When 
they  were  dismissed  in  the  following  spring  the  volunteers 
were  anxious  for  these  gifts  and  Jackson,  in  order  that  they 
might  be  allowed  to  keep  them,  issued  formal  discharges; 
but  they  agreed  that  they  would  hold  themselves  bound  to  come 
into  the  field  again  when  summoned.  It  is  a  high  tribute  to  the 
personal  qualities  of  the  men  that  their  general  would  trust  them 
under  such  circumstances  and  that  in  October,  1813,  they  did 
almost   to  a  man  redeem  their  promises.'    These  discharges 

Wnited  Statu  Statues  at  Large.,  U,  676. 

•Jackson  to  Colonel  William  Martin,  December  4,  1813,  Jackson  Mss.  Jackson  said  that  the  secretary 
o(  war  declared  that  he,  Jackson,  had  no  authority  to  discharge  the  troops,  but  this  hardly  agreed  with  Ann- 
strong's  orders  of  February  6  and  March  23,  1813. 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER  103 

played  an  important  part  in  the  discussion  now  about  to 
begin. 

As  December  loth  approached,  the  discontented  volunteers 
began  to  speak  of  it  as  the  day  on  which  their  term  of  service 
expired.  Jackson,  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  losing  four-fifths  of 
his  army,  replied  that  the  twelve  months  they  were  required  to 
serve  did  not  include  the  time  they  were  at  home  the  preceding 
summer.  The  volunteers  thought  the  law  declared  for  a  twelve 
months'  tour  of  duty  and  that  an  interruption  during  which 
they  were  at  the  call  of  the  government  was  not  to  be  counted 
against  them.  They  further  asserted  that  they  would  go  home 
on  the  loth,  whether  Jackson  gave  his  permission  or  not,  and 
that  inasmuch  as  they  already  had  their  discharges  such  an 
action  could  not  be  held  illegal.  It  was  a  strong  point  in  their 
favor,  and  had  Jackson  been  as  logically  minded  as  patriotic 
he  would  have  thought  himself  stopped  from  denying  the  tech- 
nical value  of  his  own  discharge.  But  he  was  not  logical,  and 
he  replied,  in  effect,  that  it  was  not  really  a  discharge  but  a 
dismissal  which  he  gave  them  the  preceding  spring,  and  only  the 
President  could  order  a  discharge.  He  seems  to  have  had  no 
compunction  in  thus  admitting  that  in  his  former  action  he 
practised  a  subterfuge  on  the  government  in  order  to  enable 
his  men  to  get  their  arms  without  legal  warrant.  It  was  natural 
that  the  volunteers  should  not  accept  Jackson's  repudiation 
of  his  discharges,  and  each  side  remained  unconvinced. 

After  discussing  the  matter  for  some  time,  Jackson  referred 
the  whole  affair  to  Governor  Blount  and  the  secretary  of  war, 
promising  to  abide  by  their  decision.  Such  an  arrangement, 
if  accepted  by  the  soldiers,  would  give  him  at  least  two  months 
of  additional  service,  and  in  the  meantime  he  hoped  by  the 
strenuous  efforts  he  was  making  to  raise  additional  volunteers 
to  repair   the  loss.*     Blount,   as  might  have  been  expected, 

'Jackson  to  Colonel  William  Martin.  December  4.  x8i3>  Jackson  Mss. 


I04  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

refused  to  settle  a  dispute  in  which  he  was  sure  to  displease 
either  the  commander  or  the  men,  and  it  was  referred  to  Wash- 
ington.' All  this  did  nothing  to  quell  the  spirit  of  mutiny  in 
the  camp  of  the  volunteers. 

On  December  9th,  the  affair  came  to  a  crisis.  The  first 
brigade  of  the  volunteers  announced  they  would  march  in  the 
night,  and  prepared  to  carry  out  the  threat.  Jackson  acted 
with  promptness.  He  ordered  the  brigade  to  parade  on  the  west 
side  of  the  fort,  placed  his  two  pieces  of  artillery  in  position  to 
rake  them,  and  on  an  adjacent  eminence  drew  up  the  militia, 
who  were  not  concerned  in  this  mutiny.  He  then  made  a 
speech  to  the  brigade:  He  had  argued  with  them,  he  said, 
until  he  was  tired;  if  they  were  going  to  desert  let  them  do  it 
now;  otherwise  let  them  return  to  camp  quietly  and  cease  to 
complain:  would  they  obey  or  not?  He  waited  for  an  answer. 
They  remained  a  moment  in  silence  and  he  ordered  the  gunners 
to  Hght  their  matches.  Then  he  spoke  again  telling  them  to 
go  to  their  places  or  abide  by  the  results.  It  is  hardly  to  be 
doubted  that  he  was  prepared  to  fire  if  they  remained  unim- 
pressed; but  at  this  moment  there  was  a  hurried  conference 
among  the  officers,  not  aU  of  whom  were  disaffected.  In  a  few 
minutes  they  approached  the  general  to  say  that  the  men  would 
resume  their  places  in  the  camp. 

The  volunteers,  however,  were  not  convinced.  They  de- 
clared they  would  not  go  home  until  honorably  discharged, 
but  they  demanded  a  release  so  persistently  that  even  the  gover- 
nor and  other  friends  of  the  general  advised  him  to  send  them 
home,'  since  they  were  useless  as  soldiers.  This  advice  at 
length  prevailed,  and  December  14th,  the  first  brigade,  including 
all  the  infantry  among  the  United  States  volunteers,  was  ordered 


'Blount  to  Jackson,  November  24,  December  7,  is.  and  26,  1813;  Blount  to  secretary  of  war,  December 
10,  1813;  Jackson  to  Blount,  December  3,  12,  and  26,  1813,  all  in  Jackson  Mss. 
'WilliuD  Carroll  to  Jackson,  November  22,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER  105 

under  its  brigadier-general  to  march  to  Nashville  and  be  dis- 
banded pending  the  decision  of  the  President.' 

'March  ig,  1814,  in  the  Carthage  Gazetle  Brigadier-General  Hall  and  several  of  his  higher  officers  published 
a  defence  of  the  first  brigade,  written  in  a  commendable  spirit. 

An  interesting  pasquinade  appears  among  the  Jackson  Mss.  It  describes  the  departure  of  the  volunteers 
and  runs  as  follows: 

FIRST  BULLETIN  OF  THE  GRAND  ARMY  OF  HOME  BOUND  PAT-RY-OTS  COMMANDED 
BY  PORTER  BOTTLE,  BUILT,  COL.  KONSHER  &  COL.  CONSCIENCIOUS,  BY  MAJORS  OUT 
FLANK-US  &  UP-TO-THE-io-DECR. 

This  veteran  corps  paraded  on  the  night  of  the  gth  Inst.,  by  command  and  were  reviewed  in  a  manner  no 
ways  pleasing  to  them;  they  were  brought  to  a  sense  of  their  duty  by  the  force  of  eloquence;  and  returned 
to  their  quarters  very  quietly  which  presaged  future  amendment.  On  the  morning  of  the  10th  Lieutenant 
Sheephead  made  his  appearance  (a  little  after  reveille)  to  complain  that  his  superiors  had  'made  merry'  and 
'wondered  that  men  under  such  circumstances  would  sing  and  rejoice  at  detaining  an  army  'against  their 
wills.'  Colonel  Conciencious  commenced  scribbling  and  wished  to  convince  others  of  what  he  believed  or 
affected  to  believe,  i.  e.,  'that  soldiers  ought  not  to  be  detained  in  service  when  they  thought  their  time  out, 
Major  Out-Flank-Us  '  was  of  opinion  the  muster  rolls  ought  to  govern,  they  were  dated  muster  in  on  the  loth 
Deer.,  1812,  and  muster  out  loth  Deer.,  1813  and  was  of  opinion  that  the  muster  rolls  superseded  the  laws, 
which  says  they  shall  serve  12  mas  in  j  yeais.'  Colonel  Konshers  opinion  'as  how  I  think,  the  mens  time 
is  up  and  by  God  dey  most  have  some  meet  wen  wee  meat  de  waggons  you  most  think  wee  is  beasts  and 
can  liv  on  gras,  but  by  G — d  wee  is  men  an  hav  som  feelings.' 

This  renowned  Colonel  was  concious  himself  and  brave  men  could  not  like  Nebuchadnezzer  in  days  of  yore 
live  on  grass. 

Major  Up-the  loth-Decr  'had  told  his  men  their  time  would  expire  on  the  loth-Decr  and  by  making  this 
and  such  arrangements  he  had  prevailed  on  his  men  to  turn  out  and  felt  himself  bound  to  see  them  justice 
done.'  Captain  Sniveling  (this  veteran  appears  as  if  he  had  been  in  the  revolution,  for  he  carries  Breads- 
mount  upon  his  back)  'couldn't  do  anything  with  his  men  they  can  speak  for  themselves.' 

X  Bulletin  14th  December,  1813 
This  day  the  whole  corps  of  home-hound  Pat-ry-ots  obtained  a  special  permit  to  return  to  de  settlements 
they  marched  o£f  amidst  the  hootings  of  the  militia.  Our  avocations  and  inclinations  not  permitting  us  to 
accompany  them,  wee  know  not  how  they  will  proceed  nor  can  we  give  a  detailed  account  of  all  the  marvellous 
actions  and  hairbreadth  escapes  they  may  have  and  make  on  their  march  to  'de  settlements.'  We  hear  they 
march  in  as  good  order  as  could  be  expected  and  that  part  who  were  in  command  on  the  morning  of  the  loth 
settled  some  old  grudges  in  the  gentlemanly  stile  0]  pugilists,  vulgarly  called  fisty  cufs.  We  wish  them  a  safe 
march  to  'de  settlements.'  We  wish  the  Ladies  of  that  part  of  Nashville,  by  the  envious  called  Scuffle  town 
to  greet  their  arrival  with  loud  huzzas  of  long  live  the  Pat-ry-ots  and 
'  Sound  the  trumpets,  beat  the  drums, 

Lol  the  conquering  heroes  come!' 
An  as  Colonel  Konsher  is  a  man  of  modesty  and  extreme  gentleness  oj  manners  we  would  wish  the  above  named 
Ladies  to  sing  or  bawl 

'He  that  wants  but  impudence 

To  all  things  has  a  fair  pretence 

And  place  among  his  wants  but  shame 

To  all  the  world  may  lay  his  claim.' 

We  have  been  faithful  recorders,  we  nothing  have  extenuated  or  ought  set  down  in  malice. 

Kyelijah  Town 

Dec.  IS.  1813.  Auto-aboy 

Coosurvatee. 

From  this  document  it  appi&rs  that  there  was  some  kind  of  meeting  on  the  morning  of  the  tenth,  a  fact 
which  one  does  not  get  from  Reid's  account  (Reid  and  Eaton,  Jackson,  83-9 j).  It  also  seems  to  indicate 
that  when  the  troops  dispersed  on  the  night  of  the  ninth  it  was  because  they  meant  to  consider  their  cause 
further,  and  not  because  they  were  willing  to  submit  to  authority. 


io6  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

At  Washington  the  affair  seemed  less  serious  than  at  Fort 
Strother,  and  the  secretary  of  war  readily  ordered  the  volun- 
teers to  be  honorably  discharged.' 

The  departure  of  the  first  brigade  left  only  the  second  brigade 
at  Fort  Strother.  It  was  composed  of  militia  infantry,  while 
the  first  was  composed  of  volunteer  infantry.  The  third  bri- 
gade, commanded  by  Coffee,  was  composed  of  volunteer  cavalry 
and  mounted  riflemen,  and  November  14th,  it  was  ordered  to 
Madison  County  to  refresh  its  jaded  horses,  and  soon  afterward 
in  compliance  with  the  request  of  the  men  it  was  allowed  to  go 
to  Tennessee  to  secure  winter  clothing  and  other  necessaries, 
first  giving  written  pledges  through  its  officers  that  the  men 
would  return  when  called.  Jackson  ordered  them  to  return 
on  December  8th,  and  at  that  time  they  were  at  Huntsville. 
But  they  were  as  much  discontented  as  the  volunteer  infantry 
and  petitioned  Jackson  for  a  discharge.  When  nine  days  later 
the  first  brigade  arrived  in  Huntsville  on  their  way  home  the 
cavalry  and  mounted  riflemen  became  as  deeply  anxious  as 
they  to  disband.  Some  of  them  seem  to  have  broken  away 
then;  but  on  the  twenty-sixth  and  twenty-seventh  the  whole 
brigade  crossed  the  Tennessee  and  marched  away,  save  for  a 
few  faithful  officers  and  men  who  were  willing  to  remain.  Coffee 
was  just  recovering  from  severe  illness,  but  he  mounted  his 
horse  and  tried  to  stop  their  going.  They  paid  little  attention 
to  him,  and  seeing  that  all  their  usefulness  as  soldiers  was  past 
he  concluded  it  was  as  well  to  let  them  go.'  On  the  twenty- 
ninth  he  reported  that  he  had  not  enough  men  left  to  make  a 
camp.' 

'Secretary  of  war  to  Blount,  January  3,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

•Coffee  to  Jackson,  December  «,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 

•Coffee's  letters  to  Jackson  are  not  very  clear  in  regard  to  the  details  of  the  defection  and  departure  of  his 
men.  They  show  much  discontent  before  the  arrival  of  the  returning  infantry.  In  his  letter  to  Jackson  of 
December  17,  he  seems  to  say  that  more  than  soo  of  his  men  have  gone:  December  20,  he  says  he  has  8so 
men,  which  was  his  full  strength  (see  Coffee  to  Jackson,  December  10,  1813):  December  28,  he  tells  how  the 
whole  brigade  crossed  the  river  and  went  off  on  December  j6  and  27:  and  finally  on  December  jg,  he  read  to 


AFFAIRS  AT  FORT  STROTHER  107 

Jackson  now  had  only  the  second  brigade  of  his  first  army, 
composed  of  militia  enlisted  under  resolution  of  the  Tennessee 
legislature  in  the  preceding  September.  They  were  commanded 
by  Brigadier-General  Roberts  and  numbered  1,000.  They 
constituted  Jackson's  sole  remaining  force,  except  an  East 
Tennessee  regiment  which  was  also  disaffected.  Under  the  state 
law  a  tour  of  duty  was  three  months,  and  they  volunteered  to 
serve  for  that  time.  But  after  they  were  in  the  state's  service 
they  were  received  into  the  army  of  the  United  States  under 
an  act  of  congress  which  provided  that  the  tour  of  duty  under 
such  conditions  should  be  six  months.'  It  is  possible  that  the 
militia  understood  Httle  of  this  change,  although  Jackson  was 
careful  to  read  to  them  the  law  under  which  they  were  re- 
ceived. The  departure  of  the  volunteers  made  them  think  of 
going  home  also.  They  began  to  assert  that  their  term  would 
be  out  on  January  4,  1814,  three  months  from  their  enlistment, 
and  to  threaten  to  go  if  they  were  restrained.  The  general  thus 
found  he  was  likely  to  be  left  sixty  miles  beyond  the  frontier 
with  only  a  handful  of  troops  to  protect  himself  against  a  winter 
attack.  The  situation  was  all  the  more  irritating  because 
he  had  just  completed  other  arrangements  for  an  advance  which 
promised  to  end  the  war. 

To  their  request  for  a  discharge  he  returned  a  prompt  refusal 
but  at  last  referred  the  matter  to  the  governor.  Blount  was 
probably  getting  tired  of  these  disputes;  he  may  have  felt 
that  Jackson  ought  not  to  throw  the  responsibility  on  him; 
and  it  is  possible  also  that  he  had  some  thought  of  preserving 
his  popularity.     At  any  rate  on  December  7th,  he  gave  his 


his  troops  Jackson's  letter  giving  consent  to  their  return,  whereupon  they  left  him  almost  to  a  man.  The 
only  plausible  way  of  reconciling  these  statements  is  to  suppose  that  the  deserting  troops  did  not  really  go 
home,  but  remained  for  some  days  in  Huntsville,  although  they  repudiated  the  authority  of  their  commander. 
All  the  letters  referred  to  here  are  from  Coffee  to  Jackson  and  may  be  found  in  the  Jackson  Mss.  under  the 
dates  cited. 

^United  Slates  Statutes  at  Large,  II.,  705. 


io8  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

opinion  in  favor  of  a  three-months  term,  but  suggested  that  the 
matter  be  referred  to  the  secretary  of  war.  Jackson  argued, 
the  militia  grumbled,  and  affairs  grew  steadily  worse.  Blount 
had  more  discretion,  if  less  military  ardor,  than  the  general, 
and  soon  saw  the  uselessness  of  keeping  the  discontented  militia 
at  Fort  Strother.  December  2 2d,  he  advised  Jackson  to  evac- 
uate the  place,  fall  back  to  the  Tennessee  River,  and  await  re- 
inforcements. Four  days  later  he  changed  his  position  somewhat 
and  suggested  that  the  militia  be  sent  home  pending  the  decision 
of  the  secretary  of  war;  and  he  added  that  this  opinion  ought 
to  be  submitted  to  the  men.  Jackson  was  disgusted,  but  he 
told  the  troops  what  the  governor  said  and  left  them  to  decide 
whether  they  would  leave  him  alone  or  stay  and  finish  the 
campaign.  It  was  the  opportunity  for  which  they  waited,  and 
they  started  on  the  31st,  pleased  to  leave  a  place  thoroughly 
hateful  to  them.'  They  left  him  raging  impotently  in  what 
was  well-nigh  an  abandoned  fort.  He  sent  his  impreca- 
tions after  them,  strongly  wishing,  as  he  said,  that  each  one  had 
"a  smok-tail  in  his  teeth,  with  a  petticoat  as  a  coat  of  mail 
to  hand  down  to  posterity.'"  One  regiment  only  remained  with 
him  and  their  term  was  to  expire  on  January  14th.  As  this  date 
was  so  near  at  hand  he  foresaw  that  he  could  do  little  with  them 
unless  he  could  persuade  them  to  stay  longer  than  their  time. 
He  asked  them  if  they  would  consent  to  do  as  much,  and  when 
they  refused  he  sent  them  off  to  Tennessee  with  orders  to  their 
officers  to  recruit  new  forces  for  six  months'   service. 


'Jackson's  attitude  at  this  time,  is  revealed  in  several  letters  to  Blount,  December  12  and  26,  1813;  Jack- 
son to  Coffee,  December  13,  25,  29,  and  31  (most  likely  to  Coffee);  Blount  to  Jackson,  December  7,  22,  26 
1813  and  March  13  and  20,  1814;  Blount  to  secretary  of  war,  December  10, 1813,  and  January  4,  1814-  AH 
in  Jackson  Mss. 

•Jackson  to  CoSee,  December  31,  i8i3>  Jackson  Mss. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  CREEKS  SUBDUED 

Whether  we  think  Jackson  prudent  or  imprudent  in  rushing 
unprepared  into  the  Creek  campaign,  or  reasonable  or  unreason- 
able in  holding  out  against  the  demands  of  his  troops,  we  must 
admire  the  heroic  spirit  with  which  he  met  the  crisis  he  now 
faced.  He  refused  to  fall  back  to  the  frontier,  although  for 
one  short  interval  he  had  no  more  than  one  hundred  men. 

His  first  care  was  to  bring  back  the  courage  of  Governor 
Blount.  Privately  he  described  Blount's  arguments  as  "damd. 
milk  and  water  observations,  which  is  well  calculated  to  arouse 
mutiny  in  the  minds  of  the  men,  keep  their  good  opinion  of 
himself  and  throw  responsibility  on  me."  To  the  governor, 
himself,  he  sent  what  he  described  as  "a  gulger  that  will  make 
him  look  and  see  his  own  situation.'"  This  "gulger"  was  a 
long  and  urgent  letter  of  which  the  following  is  a  part: 

Had  your  wish  that  I  should  discharge  a  part  of  my  force 
and  "retire  with  the  residue  into  the  settlements  assumed  the 
form  of  a  positive  order,  it  might  have  furnished  me  some  apology 
for  pursuing  such  a  course ;  but  by  no  means  a  full  justification. 
As  you  could  have  no  power  to  give  such  an  order,  I  could  not 
be  inculpable  in  obeying  it.  But  a  bare  recommendation, 
founded,  as  I  am  satisfied  it  must  be,  on  the  artful  suggestions 
of  those  fire-side  patriots  who  seek  in  a  failure  of  the  expedition 
an  excuse  for  their  own  supineness,  and  upon  the  misrepre- 
sentations of  the  discontented  from  the  army,  who  wish  it  to 
be  believed  that  the  difficulties  which  overcame  their  patriotism 
are  wholly  insurmountable,  would  afford  me  but  a  feeble  shield 


'Jackson  to  Coffee,  December  39,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 

109 


no  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

against  the  reproaches  of  my  country  or  my  conscience.  Believe 
me,  my  respected  friend,  the  remarks  I  make  proceed  from  the 
purest  personal  regard.  If  you  would  preserve  your  reputation, 
or  that  of  the  state  over  which  you  preside,  you  must  take  a 
straightforward  determined  course;  regardless  of  the  applause 
or  censure  of  the  populace,  and  of  the  forebodings  of  that  das- 
tardly and  designing  crew,  who,  at  a  time  like  this,  may  be  ex- 
pected to  clamour  continually  in  your  ears  .     .     . 

You  say  that  an  order  to  bring  the  necessary  quota  of  men 
into  the  field  has  been  given,  and  that  of  course,  your  power 
ceases;  and  although  you  are  made  sensible  that  the  order 
has  been  wholly  neglected,  you  can  take  no  measure  of  the 
omission.  Widely  different,  indeed,  is  my  opinion.  I  consider 
it  your  imperious  duty  when  the  men  called  for  by  your  authority, 
founded  upon  that  of  the  government,  are  known  not  to  be  in 
the  field  to  see  that  they  be  brought  there;  and  to  take  imme- 
diate measures  with  the  officer  who,  charged  with  the  execution 
of  your  order,  omits  or  neglects  to  do  it.  As  the  executive  of 
the  state,  it  is  your  duty  to  see  that  the  full  quota  of  troops  be 
kept  in  the  field,  for  the  time  they  have  been  required.  You 
are  responsible  to  the  government;  your  officers  to  you.  Of 
what  avail  it  to  give  an  order  if  it  never  be  executed  and  may 
be  disobeyed  with  impunity?  Is  it  by  empty  mandates  that 
we  can  hope  to  conquer  our  enemies,  and  save  our  defenceless 
frontiers  from  butchery  and  devastation?  Believe  me,  my 
valued  friend,  there  are  times  when  it  is  highly  criminal  to 
shrink  from  responsibility,  or  scruple  about  the  exercise  of 
our  power.* 

These  sentiments  were  characteristic  of  Jackson.  They 
contain  the  patriotism,  energy,  readiness  to  take  the  initiative, 
esteem  of  the  national  authority  above  that  of  the  state,  and 
the  willingness  to  lecture  his  official  superior  which  continually 
reappear  in  his  career.  We  find  also  the  disposition  to  beat 
a  public  servant  with  the  club  of  popular  disapproval,  which 


>Reid  and  Eaton,  Jackson,  no.     This  letter  is  given  here  without  date,  but  it  seems  undoubtedly  to  have 
b«en  the  one  which  Jackson  called  a  "gulger. " 


THE  CREEKS  SUBDUED  iii 

in  the  Natchez  proclamation  was  held  over  the  Tennessee  con- 
gressmen/ and  which  in  later  times  was  to  be  used  against 
poHticians  in  all  parts  of  the  union.  To  use  such  a  club  is  an 
old  trick,  but  it  is  usually  employed  with  finesse:  Jackson's 
method  was  fierce,  open,  and  relentless  chastisement. 

Governor  Blount  was  too  sensible  to  sulk  because  Jackson 
railed  and  tried  earnestly  to  raise  a  new  army.  Many  of  the 
ofi&cers  of  the  disbanded  troops  were  warmly  attached  to  Jackson 
and  went  home  to  raise  new  companies.  From  Tennessee  the 
response  was  encouraging.  Best  of  all,  General  Pinckney 
placed  the  newly  raised  thirty-ninth  regiment,  John  Williams, 
colonel,  and  Thomas  H.  Benton,  lieutenant-colonel,  at  Jack- 
son's disposal.  Thus  it  happened  that  by  the  14th  of  March 
Fort  Strother  contained  5,000  troops,  more  than  were  needed  for 
the  work  before  them,  and  more  than  it  was  possible  to  support 
in  the  Creek  country. 

Physical  suffering,  as  well  as  anxiety,  marked  this  period 
of  waiting.  Privations,  exhaustion,  irritation,  and  the  drain 
of  a  slowly  healing  wound  produced  serious  effects  on  a  system 
which  was  habitually  on  the  verge  of  collapse.  But  Jackson's 
extraordinary  will  sustained  him,  and  he  not  only  gave  the 
impulse  but  supervised  most  of  the  details  of  reorganization. 
His  correspondence  was  heavy.  To  Blount,  Pinckney,  and 
many  others  he  wrote  frequently.  The  condition  of  the  fort  and 
the  roads,  the  activity  of  the  contractors,  the  progress  of  enhst- 
ment,  all  passed  under  his  eye.  He  was  said  to  be  the  last  to 
retire  and  the  first  to  rise  in  the  camp.  ''We  have  not  slept 
three  hours  in  four  nights,"  he  said.  "Reid  and  myself  are  worn 
out.'" 

At  such  a  time  his  strong  nature  justified  itself.  We  may 
forgive  many  faults  of  passion,  when  we  remember  that  they 

'See  above,  page  85. 

•Jackson  to  Coffee,  December  31,  1813,  Jackson  Mss. 


112  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

were  correlative  functions  of  an  iron  will  which  on  occasion 
could  give  direction  to  the  history  of  his  country.  They  now 
carried  him  through  what  was  probably  the  supreme  crisis 
in  his  career.  There  were  other  times  when  failure  would  have 
forestalled  all  that  came  after,  but  no  other  period  of  doubt 
was  so  long  or  so  forlorn  in  appearance,  and  into  which  it  was 
necessary  to  put  so  much  energy  and  personal  sacrifice  in  order 
to  overcome  it. 

In  the  campaign  about  to  begin  he  was  left  largely  to  his 
own  resources.  It  was  he  who  would  not  give  up  Fort  Strother, 
he  who  put  to  work  the  means  of  gathering  reinforcements, 
and  he  who  gave  purpose  to  troops  and  contractors.  The 
direction  of  the  movements  was  also  chiefly  his,  for  Pinckney 
in  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  recognized  his  ability  and  gave 
him  wide  discretion.  Nor  was  he  benefited  by  either  of  the 
other  expeditions  which  in  the  preceding  summer  had  been 
ordered  to  move  against  the  Creeks.' 

While  he  contended  with  difficulties  at  Fort  Strother,  General 
Floyd  with  a  body  of  Georgia  mihtia  was  marching  on  the 
villages  on  the  lower  Tallapoosa.  At  Autosee,  sixty  miles  west 
of  Coweta,  he  fought  on  November  29th,  a  fierce  battle  in  which 
the  Indians  were  driven  from  the  field  with  a  loss  of  two  hundred 
warriors,  but  he  himself  was  wounded  and  withdrew  his  force  to 
the  settlements. 

Throughout  January  and  February  Floyd  made  ineffectual 
efforts  to  resvime  his  advance.  He  had  a  good  road  to  the 
Upper  Creek  towns  and  Pinckney  expected  him  to  carry  supplies 
to  Jackson,  but  one  thing  after  another  interfered  with  his 
movement  and  Pinckney  finally  warned  Jackson  to  expect  no 
assistance  from  Floyd.'    At  the  same  time  the  expedition  up 


'See  above,  page  96. 

'Pinckney  to  Jackson,  December  12, 1813.  February  5  and  so,  1814,  Jackson  Mss.    Also  see  Floyd  to  Pinck- 
ney,  December  4,  1813,  in  Niles,  Register,  V.,  383. 


THE  CREEKS  SUBDUED  113 

the  Alabama,  entrusted  to  General  Claiborne,  proved  a  failure/ 
It  was  evident  that  the  only  hope  for  pacifying  the  Creeks 
was  Jackson's  column:  it  was  also  evident  that  success  under 
the  circumstances  would  make  a  deep  impression  on  the  country. 

Soon  after  New  Year's,  18 14,  new  troops  began  to  arrive  on 
the  Coosa.  By  the  middle  of  the  month  they  were  ready  for 
a  blow.  Eighty  miles  south  of  the  fort  was  the  fortified  en- 
campment of  Tohopeka  where  hostile  Indians  were  assembling 
from  many  villages.  With  900  mounted  riflemen,  200  friendly 
Indians,  and  one  of  his  six-pounders  he  marched  against  it  on 
the  seventeenth.  Five  days  later,  just  before  dawn,  as  he  lay 
encamped  on  Emuckfau  Creek  three  miles  from  the  fortification, 
the  enemy  tried  to  surprise  him.  But  he  was  ready  for  the  attack 
and  drove  them  off  in  a  fierce  countercharge.  Later  in  the  day 
it  was  renewed  and  again  beaten  off.  Thereupon  the  savages 
retired  into  their  encampment  which  he  did  not  feel  strong 
enough  to  storm.  They  lost  45  killed  and  wounded,  while  three 
of  the  whites  were  killed  and  several  wounded.  Jackson  set  out 
at  once  for  Fort  Strother  followed  closely  by  the  foe.  On  the 
twenty-fourth,  as  he  was  crossing  Enotachapco  Creek,  they  fell 
on  his  rear  so  fiercely  that  for  a  moment  the  situation  was  critical. 
But  Colonel  Carroll  ralHed  25  men  and  with  the  aid  of  the  six- 
poimder  held  off  the  enemy  till  the  crossing  was  completed.  This 
incident  ended  the  pursuit,  and  on  the  twenty-ninth  the  detach- 
ment arrived  at  the  fort,  having  lost  in  the  two  engagements 
24  killed  and  71  wounded,  while  the  Creeks  lost  considerably 
more  than  two  hundred.* 

This  was  the  only  stroke  Jackson  gave  the  Creeks  without 
routing  them  completely.  It  was  undertaken  with  a  small 
and  dispirited  force  against  an  enemy  strongly  posted.  If 
the  savages  had  remained  in  their  fortifications  and  awaited 

'Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  VII.,  343. 
'Reid  and  Eaton,  Jackson,  131-147. 


114  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

battle,  he  must  have  fought  at  disadvantage  or  returned  without 
an  attack,  either  of  which  would  have  been  unfortunate.  As  it 
happened,  he  could  report  that  he  drove  back  two  assaults  and 
inflicted  more  damage  than  he  sustained.  "Unless  I  am  greatly 
mistaken,"  he  said,  ''it  [the  expedition]  will  be  found  to  have 
hastened  the  termination  of  the  Creek  war  more  effectually 
than  any  measure  I  could  have  taken  with  the  troops  under  my 
command.'"  Its  best  results  were  to  give  the  new  troops  a 
taste  of  war,  to  restore  confidence  in  Tennessee,  and  to  dash  the 
rising  confidence  of  the  enemy.  Pinckney  gave  it  his  endorse- 
ment: referring  to  Jackson  in  a  letter  to  the  secretary  of  war 
he  said,  *Mf  government  think  it  advisable  to  elevate  to  the 
rank  of  general  other  persons  than  those  now  in  the  army,  I 
have  heard  of  none  whose  military  operations  so  well  entitle 
him.   to   that   distinction.'" 

During  the  Creek  war  the  Indians  showed  unusual  knowledge 
of  civilized  warfare.  The  strength  of  their  encampment  near 
Emuckfau  turned  Jackson  aside.  They  had  some  able  leaders 
of  mixed  blood  and  understood  the  advantages  of  military 
subordination.  After  the  affair  at  Enotachapco  they  gave  up 
a  poHcy  of  aggression  and  gathered  their  strength  to  meet  an 
attack  in  the  midst  of  their  villages.  They  had  selected  the 
strongest  available  point  on  the  Tallapoosa,  famous  in  history 
as  Tohopeka,  or  the  Horse-Shoe,  and  beheved  it  impregnable. 
While  they  awaited  attack  Jackson  had  leisure  to  complete  the 
organization  of  his  army. 

It  was  February  6th,  when  Colonel  WiUiams  arrived  with  the 
39th  regiment  of  regulars,  six  hundred  strong.  Their  coming  gave 
comfort  to  Jackson  who  was  beginning  to  discover  signs  of 
mutiny  m  the  raw  troops.  The  regulars  gave  a  nucleus  of 
permanent   authority   independent   of    the   popular   agitation 

'Parton,  Jackson,  I.,  495- 
-Parton,  Jackson,  I.,  4g8. 


THE  CREEKS  SUBDUED  115 

in  the  minds  of  the  mihtia.  The  commander  consequently 
stiffened  his  attitude  and  announced  that  he  would  not  pardon 
the  next  man  convicted  of  mutiny.  He  was  determined  to 
make  an  example  of  disobedience.  John  Woods,  a  youth, 
who  was  perhaps  misled  by  others,  was  to  fall  into  the  breach 
thus  opened.  He  was  charged  with  disobedience  and  with 
threatening  to  shoot  when  ordered  under  arrest.  He  was  only 
eighteen  and  the  officer  whom  he  defied  was  undoubtedly  incon- 
siderate, but  the  court  found  him  guilty  and  sentenced  him 
to  death.  The  case  would  ordinarily  demand  commutation 
into  some  milder  punishment,  but  Jackson  stood  to  his  purpose 
and  the  boy  was  executed  on  March  14th.  Long  afterward 
those  who  opposed  the  political  ambitions  of  General  Jackson 
made  the  incident  support  their  general  charge  that  he  was  cruel 
and  irresponsible.  In  their  hands  it  was  grossly  exaggerated 
and  aroused  violent  controversy.'  But  whatever  we  may  say 
of  the  wisdom  of  the  execution,  its  effect  on  discipHne  was  salutary. 
The  day  Woods  met  his  fate  the  second  advance  of  the  army 
began.  Three  thousand  of  the  newly  collected  forces  were  led 
southward  along  the  banks  of  the  Coosa.  Colonel  Williams 
and  the  regulars  were  ordered  to  guard  the  supplies  which  in 
flat  boats  were  sent  down  the  stream.  Thirty  miles  southward 
a  new  fort  was  begun  which  Jackson,  with  no  premonition  of 
a  later  quarrel,  called  Fort  Williams.  It  was  within  easy  dis- 
tance of  the  Tallapoosa  villages  and  marked  the  point  at  which 
the  Coosa  was  to  be  abandoned  for  overland  journeying.  For 
a  moment  there  was  hesitation  in  the  mind  of  the  general  on 
account  of  the  difficulty  of  bringing  up  supplies.  "All  I  want," 
said  he,  "is  supplies  for  my  army.  Had  I  a  sufficiency  for  four 
weeks  now  at  this  place  my  mind  would  be  at  ease,  and  the  war, 
I  think,  pretty  near  its  termination.'"    But  cheering  news  came 

'Parton,  Jackson,  I.,  504,  gives  the  essential  facts  of  this  incident, 
tjacksoa  to  Hickman,  March  21,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


ii6  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

from  Pinckney:  1,500  men  with  ample  provisions  were  about 
to  move  from  Fort  Stoddart  for  the  Hickory  Grounds  and  these 
would  make  the  future  secure.  The  long  sought  opportunity 
was  at  hand  and  Jackson  hesitated  no  longer.  Leaving  his  river 
base  he  marched  through  the  forest  for  that  point  on  the  Talla- 
poosa, sixty  miles  away,  in  which  the  enemy  during  two  months 
had  been  preparing  for  their  last  stand.* 

Early  in  the  morning  of  March  27th,  he  was  before  it.  In 
a  horse-shoe-like  bend  of  the  river  lay  a  thousand  warriors  and 
about  three  hundred  women  and  children,  the  flower  of  the 
hostile  Creeks.  Across  the  narrow  part  of  the  peninsula  within 
the  bend  was  a  zigzag  wall  of  logs  from  five  to  eight  feet  high,  450 
yards  long,  and  pierced  by  a  double  row  of  port-holes.  The 
angles  of  the  zigzag  enabled  the  defenders  to  cover  the  ground 
in  front  of  it  with  a  cross  fire.  The  area  enclosed  was  100  acres. 
In  the  part  nearest  the  wall  trees  were  felled  so  that  their  inter- 
laced branches  made  excellent  covert  for  sharp-shooters.  Along 
the  banks  were  the  huts  of  the  inhabitants,  with  canoes  drawn 
up  on  the  edge  of  the  water.  To  the  unskilled  savage  this  doubt- 
less seemed  an  impregnable  position;  but  the  trained  soldier 
would  have  imderstood  that  it  afforded  poor  egress,  should  it 
have  to  be  abandoned  in  the  face  of  an  enemy. 

Jackson's  plan  of  attack  was  quickly  formed.  He  proposed 
to  surround  the  foe  and  make  the  destruction  as  com^plete  as 
possible.  He  placed  his  infantry  before  the  unpleasant  looking 
wall  to  carry  it  at  the  right  moment.  He  planted  his  two  small 
cannon  on  a  hill  which  at  a  distance  of  eighty  yards  commanded 
the  whole  zigzag  defense.  He  ordered  Coffee  with  the  cavalry 
and  mounted  men  and  the  friendly  Indians  to  cross  the  river 
and  hold  the  opposite  bank  so  as  to  prevent  escape  in  that 
direction.  At  10.30  o'clock,  when  Coffee  was  hardly  in  position, 
Jackson  ordered  the  artillery  to  batter  down  the  enemy's  fortifi- 

•Pinckney  to  Jackson,  March  8  and  23,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


THE  CREEKS  SUBDUED  117 

cations.  For  two  hours  the  six-pounder  tried  ineffectually  to  do 
this,  while  the  infantry  kept  up  a  galling  fire  whenever  an  Indian 
showed  himself. 

While  this  happened  Coffee's  friendly  Indians  made  a  diversion 
which  soon  brought  the  battle  to  a  close  fight.  Seeing  the  canoes 
of  the  hostiles  they  swam  across  the  river,  seized  them,  and 
rushed  among  the  huts  burning  them  and  scattering  the  women 
in  confusion.  The  infantry  observing  the  smoke  of  these  fires 
urged  that  they  be  allowed  to  charge  the  wall.  Permission 
was  given,  and  the  39  th  regiment  with  the  East  Tennessee 
militia  under  Doherty  were  soon  within  the  enclosure  fighting 
hand  to  hand  with  the  enemy  in  the  mass  of  fallen  timber  and 
underbrush.  It  was  an  unequal  contest  for  the  Creeks,  but 
they  asked  no  quarter.  They  retreated  to  whatever  protection 
the  place  afforded  and  fired  at  every  opportunity.  When  a 
flag  of  truce  was  sent  to  a  group  of  them  thus  placed,  it  was  re- 
ceived with  a  shower  of  bullets.  By  three  o'clock  the  battle  was 
over.  No  Indians  remained  in  the  enclosure  except  a  few  who 
were  concealed  in  clefts  in  the  rocks  some  of  whom  by  good 
fortune  escaped  in  the  night.  Eight  hundred  were  killed  and 
300,  all  but  four  of  whom  were  women,  were  captured.  The  re- 
ports mention  no  wounded  Indians.  Jackson  thought  that 
not  more  than  twenty  escaped.  The  Americans  lost  45  killed 
and  145  wounded.  Among  the  former  was  Major  Mont- 
gomery, of  the  Thirty-Ninth;  among  the  latter  was  Jackson 
himself  whose  injury  was  shght,  and  Samuel  Houston,  then 
hardly  more  than  a  boy,  whose  wounds  were  at  first  thought 
fatal.  Three  of  the  Creek  prophets,  whose  harangues  did  much 
to  bring  on  the  war,  were  killed.  One  of  them  was  struck  in 
the  mouth  by  a  grape-shot,  "as  if,"  said  Jackson,  "Heaven 
designed  to  chastise  him  by  an  appropriate  punishment.'" 

»The  reports  of  Jackson,  Coffee,  and  Morgan,  who  commanded  the  friendly  Cherokees,  are  in  Niles,  VI., 
146,  where  Jackson's  report  to  Blount  is  dated  March  31:  a  copy  in  the  Jackson  Mss.  is  dated  April  2,  1&14. 


ii8  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

To  some  gentle  spirits  it  seemed  unnecessary  to  kill  so  many 
Indians;  but  to  the  people  of  Tennessee,  who  remembered 
fifty  years  of  border  warfare,  it  seemed  just  and  appropriate. 
It  was  their  glory  that  it  came  at  last  under  one  of  their  own 
leaders.  When  some  one  asked  Governor  Blount  how  it  was 
that  Jackson  killed  so  many  Indians  he  replied,  "Because  he 
knows  how  to  do  it."* 

The  battle  of  the  Horse-Shoe,  or  Tohopeka,  broke  the  Creek 
power  of  resistance.  Since  the  beginning  of  hostilities  in  the 
preceding  October  they  had  lost  by  death  in  battle,  according 
to  the  rather  indefinite  published  reports,  thirteen  hundred 
and  twenty.  If  we  consider  that  many  of  the  dead  were  not 
accounted  for  and  many  wounded  were  incapacitated  for  further 
service,  we  shall  see  that  their  fighting  strength  was  now  di- 
minished by  about  twenty-five  hundred  and  was  probably  not 
much  more  than  fifteen  hundred.  This  panic-stricken  rem- 
nant, offering  no  more  resistance,  collected  in  the  towns  of 
the  lower  Tallapoosa,  where  some  believed  superhuman  power 
would  save  their  sacred  places  from  desecration. 

Jackson  left  them  little  time  to  doubt  the  issue.  Returning 
to  Fort  WiUiams  for  supplies,  he  gave  his  army  a  needed  rest 
and  ten  days  after  the  battle  of  Tohopeka  marched  for  the 
towns  on  the  lower  Tallapoosa.  On  April  15th  he  was  joined 
by  the  Georgia  mihtia,  and  three  days  later  the  combined  force 
reached  the  junction  of  the  rivers.  Going  thither  they  saw 
many  abandoned  villages  but  no  warriors.  The  inhabitants 
had  fled  to  Florida,  where  they  were  safe,  and  where  they  kept  up 
their  adverse  organization  without  restraint  from  Spain.  The 
hostile  party  numbered  a  thousand  and  did  not  cease  to  plan 
reprisals  on  the  whites  until,  in  1818,  Jackson  entered  Florida 
and  convinced  them  that  not  even  a  Spanish  fort  could  protect 
them  from  his  vengeance. 

>Blount  to  Jackson,  January  is.  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


THE  CREEKS  SUBDUED  nQ 

Many  of  the  Creeks  did  not  flee,  but  came  into  the  American 
camp  and  submitted.  One  of  them  was  the  chief  Weathersford, 
a  half-breed,  rich  in  lands  and  cattle.  Another  chief  equally 
prominent,  McQueen,  escaped  with  the  fugitives.  April  20th, 
General  Pinckney  arrived  and  took  command.  On  the  twenty- 
first  he  ordered  Jackson  to  Fort  Williams  to  erect  forts  and  plant 
garrisons  in  the  conquered  territory.  This  placed  the  strong 
wiUed  Tennesseean  in  an  independent  command  and  removed 
the  possibility  of  a  clash  between  superior  and  subordinate^ 
Near  the  Hickory  Ground,  a  strong  fort  was  built  and  called 

Fort  Jackson.  u    u  ^ 

When  Tennessee  fought  and  won  the  Creek  war,  she  had  a 
definite   purpose:  She    desired    to    break    the    Spanish-Indian 
Alhance,  to  bring  the  Creek  trade  into  American    instead  ot 
Spanish  hands,  to  gain  complete  mihtary  ascendency  over  the 
Creeks,  to  open  and  make  safe  the  Coosa-Alabama  River  com- 
municadon,  to  acquire  rich  lands  for  settlement,  and  to  plant 
American  power  so  strongly  on  the  Florida  border  that  the 
future  expulsion  of  Spain  from  Florida  might  be  an  easy  task. 
When  the  Creeks  were  at  last  broken  she  felt  a  great  impulse 
to  have  all  these  advantages.     With  it  came  the  conviction 
that  the  national  government,  from  its  tradirionaUy  mild  policy 
toward  the  Indians,  could  not  be  trusted  to  demand  aU  that 
ought  to   be   taken.      Especially,    she   distrusted   the   benev- 
olent    Hawkins,     who     had    long    held     the     position     of 
Creek  agent  and  fulfilled  his  dudes  on  the  theory  that  he  was 
father  and  friend  of  the  red  men.  ^      ^ 

The  first  views  of  the  government  were  in  keeping  with  its 
policy  of  mildness.  March  17th,  m  andcipadon  of  the  final 
outcome  of  the  campaign.  Secretary  Armstrong  told  Pmckney 
that  the  terms  of  peace  should  include  an  indemnity  in  lands, 
relinquishment  of  Spanish  influence  among  the  Creeks,  freedom, 
of  travel  in  the  Nation,  and  the  surrender  of  the  prophets  who 


I20  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

instigated  the  war/  Three  days  later,  possibly  in  response  to 
efforts  of  the  Tennessee  congressmen  who  were  ahvays  in  close 
touch  with  the  situation,  the  terms  were  altered  and  Pinckney 
was  instructed  to  require  merely  a  military  capitulation.'  Jack- 
son, himself,  thought  that  the  Indians  ought  to  surrender  un- 
conditionally, and  Pinckney  agreed  with  him.'  It  was,  there- 
fore, on  such  a  basis  that  the  Creeks  who  did  not  flee  to  Florida 
submitted  to  the  American  military  authority.  Of  those  who 
thus  placed  themselves  in  the  hands  of  the  Americans  the 
majority  were  friendly  in  the  war  and  believed  that  they  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  unconditional  submission.  It  was  an- 
nounced to  all  that  they  would  be  summoned  later  to  a  council 
in  order  to  conclude  a  general  peace. 

The  work  of  the  army  was  now  over.  Leaving  strong  gar- 
risons in  the  forts,  Jackson  turned  his  face  toward  Nashville, 
where  honors  were  prepared  for  him.  To  his  soldiers  he  sent 
a  triumphant  peal  by  way  of  parting.  "Your  vengeance," 
he  said  in  a  proclamation  which  struck  a  sympathetic  chord 
in  the  whole  countryside,  "has  been  glutted.  Wherever  these 
infuriated  aUies  of  the  arch  enemy  assembled  their  forces  for 
battle,  you  have  seen  them  overthrown.  .  .  .  The  bravery 
you  have  displayed  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  the  uniform  good 
conduct  you  have  manifested  in  your  encampment,  and  on  your 
line  of  march,  will  long  be  cherished  in  the  memory  of  your 
general,  and  will  not  be  forgotten  by  the  country  which  you 
have  so  materially  benefitted."* 

In  Tennessee  the  rejoicings  were  tumultuous;  for  it  was  the 
state's  first  important  historic  achievement.  When  the  cam- 
paign began,  seven  months  earlier,  Jackson  had  many  enemies. 
Two  months  later,  when  mutiny  existed  at  Fort  Strother  and 

^American  State  Papers,  Indian  Ajffairs,  I.,  836. 
i.btd,  I,  837. 

'Pinckney  to  Jackson,  April  14,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
'April  38,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


THE  CREEKS  SUBDUED  121 

when  some  of  the  sanest  heads  began  to  shake  at  what  people 
said  was  his  obstinacy,  these  enemies  were  exultant.  Now 
all  opponents  were  silenced  and  shamed,  and  from  that  time  he 
was  the  state's  military  hero. 

From  these  marks  of  glory  he  turned  gladly  to  the  "Hermitage" 
where  Mrs.  Jackson  awaited  him.  She  had  watched  the  cam- 
paign with  anxiety.  A  number  of  letters  which  she  wrote  him 
at  this  period  witness  her  distress  from  his  absence  and  her  joy 
at  his  return.  They  are  the  only  letters  from  her  found  in  that 
large  collection  which  tells  so  much  of  his  life.  From  their 
tender  sentiment  we  may  think  he  had  not  the  heart  to  destroy 
them.  They  seem  to  be  the  only  unedited  letters  which  pos- 
terity has  from  her  pen;  and  one  of  them  is  given  here  as  an 
illustration  of  the  spirit  of  the  woman  who  had  the  affection 
of  one  of  the  most  strenuous  of  the  world's  leaders. 

Hermitage,  Feb.  10,  1814. 
My  Dearest  Lite; 

I  received  your  letter  by  Express.  Never  shall  I  forgit  it 
I  have  not  slept  one  night  since.  What  a  dreadfull  scene  it  was  — 
how  did  I  feel.  I  never  can  describe  it.  I  Cryed  aloud  and 
praised  my  god  For  your  safety  how  thankfuU  I  was  —  Oh 
my  unfortunate  Nephew  he  is  gon  how  I  deplore  his  Loss 
his  untimely  End  —  My  dear  pray  let  me  conjur  you  by 
every  Tie  of  Love  of  friendship  to  let  me  see  you  before 
you  go  againe  I  have  borne  it  untill  now  it  has  thrown  me 
into  feavours  I  am  very  unwell  —  my  thoughts  is  never 
diverted  from  that  dreadfull  scene  oh  how  dreadfull  to  me 
&  the  mercy  and  goodness  of  Heaven  to  me  you  are  spared 
perils  and  Dangers  so  maney  troubles  —  my  prayer  is  un- 
ceaseing  how  long  O  Lord  will  I  remain  so  unhappy  no 
rest  no  Ease.  I  cannot  sleepe  all  can  come  home  but  you 
I  never  wanted  to  see  you  so  mutch  in  my  life  had  it  not 
have  been  for  Stokel  Hayes  I  should  have  started  oute  to  Hunts- 
ville  let  me  know  and  I  will  fly  on  the  wings  of  the  purest  affec- 
tion     I  must  see  you  pray  my  Darling  never  make  me  so  un- 


122  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW   JACKSON 

happy  for  aney  Country  I  hope  the  Campain  will  soon  end 
the  troops  that  is  now  on  their  way  will  be  sufficient  to  end 
the  ware  in  the  Creek  Country  You  have  now  don  more 
than  any  other  man  ever  did  before  you  have  served  your 
country  long  enough  You  have  gained  many  Laurels  You 
have  bind  them  and  more  gloriously  than  had  your  situation 
have  been  diferently  and  instid  of  your  enemyes  injuring 
of  you  as  theay  intended  it  has  been  an  advantage  to  you 
you  have  been  gon  a  long  time  six  months  in  all  that  time 
what  has  been  your  trialls  daingers  and  Diffyculties  hardeships 
oh  Lorde  of  heaven  how  can  I  beare  it  —  Colo  Hayes  waites 
once  more  I  commend  you  to  god  his  providential  eye  is  on 
you  his  parental  Care  is  garding  you  —  my  prayers  my  tears 
is  for  your  safety  Day  and  night  farewell  I  fell  too  mutch 
at  this  moment  our  Dear  Little  Son  is  well  he  sayes  maney 
things  to  swet  papa  which  I  have  not  time  to  mention  —  the 
Cohest  blessings  of  Heaven  awaite  you  Crown  your  wishes 
—  health  and  happy  Days  untill  we  meete  —  Let  it  not  be 
Long  from  your  Dearest  friend  and  faithfull  wife  untill 
Death 

Mrs.  Jackson  was  an  illiterate  woman:  probably  most  of  her 
mental  development  came  through  a  deeply  religious  life.  Many 
of  her  phrases  are  conventional  expressions  in  the  fervid 
pulpit  language  of  the  day.  But  she  had  an  extremely  benevo- 
lent nature,  and  through  her  emotions  she  ruled  her  hus- 
band's affection  until  the  day  of  her  death.  It  was  no  sUght 
achievement,  and  whatever  her  education,  it  indicates  that 
naturally  she  was  a  woman  of  distinction. 

A  reward  more  tangible  than  popular  esteem  came  in  pro- 
motion to  rank  in  the  regular  army.  Pinckney  suggested  it  to 
Armstrong,  who  on  May  20th,  offered  a  brigadier-generalship 
with  a  brevet  major-generalship,  saying  it  was  all  he  could 
then  do;  but  he  added  that  Jackson  should  have  the  next 
first-class  vacancy.'    The  promise  was  speedily  fulfilled.     Major- 

'Campbell  to  Jackson,  May  29,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


MRS.  RACHAEL  DOiNELSON  JACKSON,  WIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

From  a  miniature  on  ivory  by  Anna  C.  Peale.     The  date  is  given  as  1819  and  the  place  as  Washington.      Bat 
Mrs.  Jackson  seems  not  to  have  been  in  Washington  with  Jackson  in  that  year.     She  snent  the  winf^r 
of  1824-1825  in  the  capital.      Her  husband,  it  is  s^iid.  wor?  this  miniature  o'Cr  his 
-    heart  from  her  death  in  1828  until  his  own  demise  seventeen  years  later 


THE  CREEKS  SUBDUED  123 

General  Harrison  was  in  the  midst  of  a  quarrel  with  the  govern- 
ment and  tendered  his  resignation.  It  was  accepted  and  on 
May  28th,  the  position  was  offered  to  Jackson.  With  it  went 
the  command  of  the  seventh  military  district,  including  Louisiana 
and  Mississippi  Territory.  Thus  did  the  frontier  soldier,  who 
eighteen  months  earlier  had  not  commanded  an  expedition  or  a 
detachment,  come  to  occupy  the  highest  rank  in  the  army  of 
his  country.  No  other  man  in  that  country's  service  since  the 
revolution  has  risen  to  the  top  quite  so  quickly.' 

With  the  command  of  the  seventh  military  district  came 
orders  go  to  Fort  Jackson  and  make  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the 
Creeks,  This  pleased  the  Tennesseeans,  who  felt  that  in  his  eyes 
their  views  would  find  favor.  The  first  announcement  from 
Washington  in  regard  to  the  treaty  was  that  Pinckney  and 
Hawkins  would  make  it.  This  disappointed  the  people  of  the 
West.  They  sent  a  protest  against  the  proposed  appointments 
signed  by  nine  of  Jackson's  highest  officers,  asking  that  the 
negotiations  be  left  in  the  hands  of  some  one  who  knew  the  needs 
of  the  frontier  better.  The  fact  that  Jackson  was  not  one  of 
the  signers  of  this  paper  seems  to  indicate  that  it  was  contem- 
plated that  he  should  have  the  appointment.' 

Most  of  the  hostile  Creeks  were  in  Florida  when  the  great 
council  met  on  the  date  named,  August  i,  1814.  Those  who  at- 
tended were  such  as  submitted  in  the  preceding  spring  and  a 
large  number  of  friendly  allies.'  The  former  expected  little 
consideration,  since  they  surrendered  at  discretion;  but  the 
latter  looked  for  reward  rather  than  punishment. 

Neither  party  was  prepared  for  the  terms  which  Jackson 
quietly  announced  as  his  ultimatum.  Without  much  oppor- 
tunity of  deliberation  he  presented  a  treaty  and  commanded 
the  chiefs  to  sign  it.     It  conceded  to  the  Americans  military 

•Armstrong  to  Jackson,  May  j8,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

-Jackson  Mss. 

•Jackson  to  Coffee,  July  17,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


124  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

posts  and  roads  in  the  Creek  Nation,  freedom  to  navigate  the 
rivers,  and  the  relinquishment  of  trade  relations  with  Spain. 
To  all  these  the  friendly  Creeks  returned  submissive  answers; 
for  they  desired  to  see  the  Nation  Americanized.  But  his 
demands  for  land  astonished  both  factions.  It  went,  in  fact, 
beyond  reasonable  indemnity  and  took  more  than  half  of  the 
old  Creek  territory.  He  demanded  an  L-shaped  belt  of  rich 
lands  lying  west  and  south  of  the  part  which  would  remain  to  the 
Nation;  and  he  told  the  council  that  the  Great  Father  in  Wash- 
ington wanted  this  belt  to  separate  his  children,  the  Creeks, 
from  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  on  the  west  and  from  the 
Spaniards  in  Florida,  so  that  the  Creeks  should  never  again 
be  drawn  by  those  powers  into  war  with  the  United  States. 
The  traditional  hostility,  added  this  relentless  pacificator, 
between  the  Creeks  and  the  Cherokees  was  guarantee  that  the 
latter  would  never  do  the  Creeks  a  similar  disservice,  and  for 
that  reason  he  made  no  demands  for  territory  on  the  north. 

The  friendly  Creeks  dared  not  openly  refuse  but  they  sought 
delay.  They  said  that  since  half  the  chieftains  were  in  Flor- 
ida, the  council  was  not  competent  to  cede  so  large  a  part  of 
the  ancient  inheritance,  and  they  proposed  to  postpone  the 
matter  until  there  was  a  general  peace.  Jackson  curtly  told 
them  to  sign  the  treaty  as  prepared  or  join  their  relatives  in 
Florida.  They  could  not  carry  on  the  war,  and  so  on  August  9, 
1814,  the  treaty  was  accepted.  The  older  chiefs  protested  and 
warned  Jackson  that  his  people  would  have  trouble  in  taking 
possession  of  the  land.  He  knew  well  that  they  were  right,  but 
he  was  willing  to  leave  the  future  to  take  care  of  itself.  The 
treaty  of  Fort  Jackson  only  half  ended  the  Creek  War,  as  the 
events  of  the  next  four  years  were  to  show. 

The  boundary  line  between  the  Creek  and  American  territory, 
as  provided  in  the  treaty,  was  to  begin  on  the  Coosa  where 
the  river  crossed  the  Cherokee  boundary  line,  thence  to  run 


THE  CREEKS  SUBDUED  125 

southward  with  the  river  to  the  Great  Falls,  seven  miles  north  of 
Fort  Jackson,  and  thence  east  in  an  irregular  line  to  the  Georgia 
boundary.  If  the  residence  of  any  friendly  chief  should  fall 
within  the  region  thus  ceded,  he  was  to  have,  as  long  as  he 
chose  to  hold  it,  a  reservation  of  one  square  mile  lying  around 
the  residence.' 


>For  the  text  of  the  treaty  see  American  Stale  Papers,  Irtdian  AJfairs,  I.,  836:  for  Correspondence  lee  /Mtf, 
837.    The  Tennessee  view  of  the  treaty  is  well  given  in  Reid  and  Eaton,  Jackson,  ig6-3og. 


CHAPTER  DC 

OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,  1814 

From  the  completion  of  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  August  9, 
1814,  until  December  ist,  Jackson  gave  himself  to  the  defense 
of  Mobile  and  the  surrounding  country,  leaving  to  its  own  re- 
sources the  more  important  position  of  New  Orleans.  Several 
reasons  convinced  him  it  was  wise  to  look  first  after  the  defenses 
of  Mobile:  (i)  he  wanted  to  keep  the  Creeks  overawed,  so 
as  to  retain  the  conquests  already  made;  (2)  the  fugitives  were 
receiving  aid  from  the  British  and  were  likely  to  renew  the 
war;  (3)  like  other  Tennesseeans  he  had  a  high  opinion  of  the 
value  of  the  Mobile- Alabama-Tennessee  line  of  communication; 

(4)  he  longed  for  an  opportunity  to  strike  Spain  in  Florida; 

(5)  he  did  not  during  this  period  have  clear  evidence  that  the 
British  would  make  a  direct  attack  on  New  Orleans;  and  (6) 
he  had,  on  the  contrar}?-,  many  apparently  safe  intimations 
that  they  would  attack  Louisiana  through  Mobile.  All  these 
seemed  to  Jackson  reasons  justifying  a  prolonged  stay  in  Mobile. 
His  idea  of  military  policy  gave  added  reasons. 

Jackson's  strategy  was  that  of  the  frontier  Indian  fighter. 
To  move  straight  and  quickly,  surround  and  exterminate  the 
foe  summed  up  his  military  theor}^  Few  American  generals 
have  equaled  him  in  courage,  promptness,  perseverance,  re- 
sourcefulness, and  the  ability  to  command  the  confidence  of 
his  officers  and  the  obedience  of  his  private  soldiers.  These 
were  natural  qualities,  and  they  are  much  more  than  half 
the  making  of  a  great  soldier;  but  they  were  not  all.  He  lacked 
—  for  he  had  no  opportunity  to  acquire  —  the  trained  officer's 

126 


OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,  1814  127 

knowledge  of  military  technique.  Had  he  risen  through  the 
lower  grades  of  service  the  deficiency  might  not  have  existed, 
though  this  is  not  entirely  certain.  The  campaign  preliminary 
to  the  attack  on  New  Orleans  was  poorly  planned  from  a  mili- 
tary standpoint.  It  involved  the  loss  of  more  than  two  months 
given  to  the  invasion  of  Florida,  with  no  more  important  result 
than  to\  impress  the  Indians  —  a  result  which  one  regiment 
on  the  frontier  might  have  accomplished  equally  as  well;  and 
in  the  meantime  the  defenses  of  New  Orleans,  and  even  those 
of  Mobile,  were  not  adequately  developed.  It  was  his  good 
fortune  that  Pakenham,  at  the  final  test  of  strength,  utterly 
despised  him.  The  British  commander  threw  aside  through 
disdain  the  caution  of  an  experienced  officer  as  effectively  as 
Jackson  lacked  it  through  ignorance  of  the  art  of  war.  So  far, 
therefore,  as  his  short  career  witnesses,  the  "Hero  of  New 
Orleans"  was  a  man  who  would  blunder  against  his  opponent 
and  then  defeat  him  by  sheer  fighting.  But  it  is  necessary  to 
remember  that  there  are  many  generals  of  whom  we  cannot 
say  as  much  as  this. 

When  Wilkinson  left  the  seventh  district  in  the  spring  of  1813, 
the  command  devolved  on  Brigadier- General  Flournoy.  Later 
in  the  year,  General  Pinckney  was  placed  in  command,  in  order 
to  direct  the  Creek  war,  but  his  appointment  did  not  supersede 
Flournoy's  authority  for  other  purposes.  The  latter  officer, 
under  the  secretary  of  war,  was  responsible  for  the  defenses 
of  that  district.  In  the  spring  of  1814,  he  tired  of  the  posi- 
tion and  sent  his  resignation  to  the  secretary,  and  about  July 
loth,  left  New  Orleans,'  so  that  from  this  time  till  the  arrival 
of  Jackson  on  December  ist,  it  had  no  higher  officer  than  a 
colonel.  The  period  was  one  of  inactivity,  dissension,  and 
discouragement. 

Jackson  intended,  when  he  set  out  from  Nashville  to  meet 

•Major  Hughes  to  R.  Butler,  July  8,  1814,  Jackson  Mas. 


128  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW   JACKSON 

the  Creek  council  at  Fort  Jackson,  and  to  return  to  Tennessee 
and  go  to  New  Orleans  by  water,  where  he  would  open  district 
headquarters.  But  while  journeying  to  the  council  he  learned 
that  a  British  expedition  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Apalachicola 
River,  where  a  fort  was  being  built  suppHed  with  22,000  stands 
of  arms  and  ammunition  for  the  fugitive  Creeks,  and  where 
nine  British  officers  were  training  the  savages  in  the  methods 
of  civilized  warfare.'  This  event,  he  thought,  threatened  a 
renewal  of  the  Creek  war,  and  he  concluded  that  he  was  needed 
near  the  Florida  border.  He  wrote  to  the  secretary  of  war 
for  permission  to  carry  his  arms  into  the  Spanish  province, 
promising,  if  the  request  were  granted,  "that  the  war  in  the 
South  shall  have  a  speedy  termination,  and  English  influence 
be  forever  destroyed  with  the  savages  in  this  quarter."  The 
secretary  replied  promptly  enlarging  on  our  neutral  obligations 
but  saying  finally  that,  if  the  Spaniards  were  really  aiding  the 
British  and  Indians,  Jackson  would  be  justified  in  dealing  the 
proposed  blow.  The  letter  was  indefinite  enough  to  support 
a  disavowal,  if  one  should  become  necessary,  but  explicit  enough 
to  suit  the  commander  of  the  seventh  district,  who  awaited  only 
a  wink  from  the  eye  of  the  secretar}^  of  war.  But  for  some  un- 
explained reason  the  communication  did  not  reach  its  destina- 
tion untU  January  17,  18 15.'  It  was  a  useless  connivance,  and 
the  expedition  which  Jackson  conducted  against  Pensacola  was 
made,  in  default  of  this  letter,  on  his  own  responsibility.  It 
had  the  hearty  approval  of  the  people  of  the  Southwest,  whose 
view  may  be  stated  in  the  words  of  an  anonymous  correspondent 
inPensacola.  "TheneutraUty  of  this  province,"  he  wrote,  "is  no 
more:  it  is  entirely  done  away  with,  and  if  you  do  not  take  advan- 
tage of  the  present  opportunity  to  come  on,  John  Bull  will."' 

'Jackson  to  Governor  Claiborne,  August  22,  1814,  also  anonymous  letter  from  Pensacola,  June  s,  1814, 
Jackson  Mss. 
'Armstrong  afterward  said  that  it  was  Madison,  who  delayed  the  letter,  Armstrong's  Notices,  page  16  n.  x. 
'An  anonymous  letter  dated  June  5,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,  1814  129 

When  he  wrote  to  the  secretary,  Jackson  wrote  also  to  the 
governor  of  Florida,  sending  the  letter  by  the  sensible  and 
observant  Captain  Gordon,  of  the  company  of  spies.'  The 
communication  was  in  the  nature  of  a  formal  demand  which 
precedes  an  attack.  It  called  for  the  surrender  of  the  fugitive 
chiefs,  asked  why  our  enemies  received  aid  and  comfort  in  Span- 
ish territory,  and  made  formal  complaint  of  the  British  pro- 
ceedings on  the  Apalachicola.  Gordon  returned  and  reported 
that  he  saw  the  hostile  Indians  hold  a  council  in  the  pubUc 
square  of  Pensacola,  that  he  saw  them  drive  cattle  through  the 
town,  some  of  which  they  avowed  were  taken  from  the  whites 
on  the  Tensas,  that  he  saw  them  receive  provisions  from  the 
Spanish  authorities;  and  was  told  that  they  would  receive  ammu- 
nition from  the  same  source  when  he  was  gone.' 

The  reply  of  the  governor  came  soon  after  the  arrival  of 
Captain  Gordon.  The  hostile  chiefs,  he  said,  could  not  be 
given  up,  because  (i)  they  were  not  at  hand;  (2)  they  could 
not  be  rightfully  demanded,  and  he  reminded  his  correspondent 
that  Spain  had  not  demanded  Gutierrez,  Toledo,  or  any  other 
revolutionist  who  was  harbored  in  the  United  States;  (3) 
Spam  was  bound  by  treaty  to  give  hospitahty  to  the  Creeks;  and 
(4)  it  was  not  denied  that  the  British  landed  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion on  the  lower  Apalachicola,  but  the  action  was  justified  on 
the  ground  that  the  Creeks  by  an  old  treaty  with  England  had 
certain  rights  on  that  river.  In  closing  the  governor,  sent  this 
parting  shot:  "Turn  your  eyes  to  the  Isle  of  Barataria  and  you 
will  there  perceive  that  in  the  very  territory  of  the  United  States, 
pirates  are  sheltered  and  protected  with  the  manifold  design 
of  committing  hostihties  by  sea,  upon  the  Merchant  vessels 
of  Spain,  and  with  such  scandalous  notoriety  that  the  cargoes 
of  our  vessels  taken  by  these  pirates  have  been  sold  in  Louisiana, 

•Jackson  to  Coffee,  July  17,  1814.  Jackson  Mss. 
Kiordon  to  Jackson,  July  [30],  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


I30  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

as  was  the  case  with  the  Pastora  (Shepherdess)  and  with  other 
vessels."*  A  moment's  reflection  will  probably  convince  the 
reader  that  not  all  the  breaches  of  neutrality  and  international 
comity  were  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Florida  boundary  line. 

Jackson  beheved  in  his  own  side  of  the  matter,  and  the  reply 
of  the  governor  thoroughly  infuriated  him.  He  forwarded  to 
Pensacola  a  counterblast  which  was  creditable  neither  to  him 
nor  the  government  he  represented.  It  breathed  the  spirit  of 
the  backwoods  bully.  "To  sum  up  the  whole,"  he  said,  "Jus- 
tice to  my  government  compels  me  to  rem^ark,  if  your  Excel- 
lency had  been  as  industrious  in  your  researches  for  facts  as 
you  have  been  studious  of  evasions  and  unfounded  innuendos, 
you  might  have  long  since  have  acquired  a  knowledge  that 
Monsieur  Le  Fete  [sic]  commander  of  the  piratical  band  has 
been  arrested  and  confined,  and  is  now  under  legal  trial  for  the 
multifarious  crimes  complained  of,'  and  such  should  be  Your 
Excellency's  conduct  toward  Francis,  McQueen,  Peter  and  others 
forming  that  matricidal  band  for  whom  your  Christian  bowels 
seem  to  sympathize  and  bleed  so  freely."  He  charged  the  gov- 
ernor with  imbecility  and  falsehood  and  closed  by  saying,  "In 
the  future  I  beg  you  to  withliold  your  insulting  charges  against 
my  government  for  one  more  inclined  to  listen  to  slander  than 
I  am;  nor  consider  me  any  more  as  a  diplomatic  character, 
unless  so  proclaimed  to  you  from  the  mouths  of  cannon." 

In  spite  of  these  turbulent  words  the  governor  replied  with 
good  effect.  He  reminded  Jackson  that  the  United  States  could 
not  with  good  grace  complain  of  violated  treaties  and  pointed 
to  the  proceedings  at  Baton  Rouge  in  1810,  and  at  Mobile  in 
1 813.  He  showed  that  they  allowed  troops  to  be  raised  in  their 
territory  for  service  against  a  neutral  power,  as  mtness  the  succor 
of  Miranda  in  his  plans  against  Caracas  and  of  others  who 


•Governor  Manique  to  Jackson,  July  26,  1S14,  Jackson  Ms3. 

^Jackson  was  in  error  about  the  capture  of  Lafitt*;  see  below,  I.,  148-130. 


OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,  1814  131 

plotted  against  Mexico.  As  to  the  violation  of  neutrality  on 
the  Apalachicola,  the  governor  replied,  first,  the  Indians  by 
treaty  had  rights  on  this  river,  and  secondly,  even  if  the  region 
were  indubitably  Spanish  territory  he  might  reply  that  he  had 
no  force  with  which  to  enforce  neutrality,  which  was  what  the 
United  States  said  about  the  landing  of  the  Baratarians,  who 
fortified  a  post  in  Louisiana  and  made  it,  under  the  French  flag, 
a  base  of  operation  against  the  Spanish  commerce.  As  to 
Lafitte,  the  general  well  knew  that  he  was  arrested  because  he 
shed  American  blood  and  not  for  his  piracies,  and  that  he  was 
still  at  large  continuing  to  seize  Spanish  ships.  "I  have  armed 
the  Indians,"  he  continued,  "and  have  taken  all  the  measures 
that  I  have  been  obliged  to  take,  not  for  the  purpose  of  commit- 
ting hostilities  on  the  United  States  nor  on  their  property,  but 
to  defend  myself  from  the  insults  that  may  be  offered.  If 
the  United  States  continue  the  aggressions  they  have  begun  the 
officers  and  soldiers  subject  to  my  orders  will  do  their  duty, 
and  support  to  the  last  extremity  the  great,  heroic,  and  generous 
character  of  the  Spanish  Nation  to  which  they  belong."  He 
closed  by  declaring.  "I  protest  against  the  act  [the  treaty  of 
Fort  Jackson]  and  declare  the  cession  void  in  the  name  of  my 
king."*  It  is  evident  that  the  arrival  of  the  British  force  in 
Pensacola  gave  increased  courage  to  the  Spanish  governor. 

This  correspondence  was  not  concluded  before  Jackson 
learned  that  the  British  were  actually  at  Pensacola.  August 
5th,  Col.  Edward  Nicholls,  with  three  ships  of  war  and 
200  soldiers,  landed  there,  took  possession  of  a  fort,  and  boasted 
that  within  fifteen  days  he  would  be  followed  by  10,000  troops 
and  a  great  fleet,  and  that  within  a  month  afterward  Mobile 
and  the  surrounding  country  would  be  in  British  and  Spanish 
hands.    The  news  gave  Jackson  cause  for  alarm,  but  he  did  not 


'The  letters  from  Jackson  are  in  his  letter-book,  July  12,  and  August  24,  1814,  among  the  Jackson  Mss., 
where  are  also  the  replies  of  the  governor,  July  26  and  August  30,  1814. 


132  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

seem  afraid.  He  sent  urgent  orders  for  the  dispatch  of  rein- 
forcements and  remarked,  "There  will  be  bloody  noses  before 
this  happens."* 

Nicholls's  purpose  in  Florida  was  twofold:  He  expected  to 
organize  out  of  the  fugitive  Creeks  and  other  tribes  a  strong 
body  of  auxiliary  troops  to  be  used  against  the  settlements, 
and  the  marked  unrest  among  all  the  savages  after  the  treaty 
of  Fort  Jackson  made  it  seem  that  this  was  not  an  idle  hope. 
That  done,  Mobile  would  be  seized  and  with  that  as  a  base  the 
British  and  their  alHes  would  harry  the  border  from  Georgia 
to  Tennessee,  cutting  the  Mississippi  at  some  point  above  Nat- 
chez and  isolating  New  Orleans  so  that  the  city  would  fall  easily 
into  their  hands.  The  plan  was  not  unreasonable;  for  Floumoy 
left  Mobile's  defenses  so  weak  that  the  British  were  justified 
in  disregarding  them,  and  Mobile  taken  it  was  fair  to  expect 
that  the  Indians  would  join  the  victors  in  strength. 

Nicholls  was  a  man  of  acknowledged  bravery,  an  impetuous 
Irishman,  described  as  "warm  in  the  cause  of  the  African  race 
and  the  depressed  and  distressed  Indians."  He  armed  the 
savages  and  clothed  them  in  British  uniforms.  They  were 
organized  in  a  separate  body  imder  "the  notorious"  Captain 
Woodbine  and  became  an  object  of  horror  to  the  settlements, 
where  people  seem  to  have  forgotten  that  Jackson  himself 
had  Indian  allies  similarly  organized  and  commanded  by  white 
officers.  It  was  generally  believed  that  Nicholls  also  planned 
to  arm  the  negro  slaves  against  the  whites,  but  the  evidence 
in  support  of  the  allegation  is  not  convincing.'  Nicholls  be- 
lieved, with  some  show  of  truth,  that  the  old  inhabitants  of 
Louisiana  were  not  very  loyal  to  the  United  States:  he  sent 
out,  therefore,  a  proclamation  telling  them  that  the  British 
were  come  to  relieve  them  from  the  hands  of  the  usurper,  and 

'Jackson  to  R.  Butler,  August  27,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

■But  Monroe  gave  it  credence.    See  Monroe  to  Jackson,  September  7,  1814,  Jackson  Ms*. 


OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,  1814  i33 

calling  on  them  to  take  part  in  the  struggle.  Mindful  of  the  former 
defection  in  Kentucky,  he  imagined  the  people  of  that  state 
could  be  turned  against  the  government,  and  he  called  on  them^ 
to  repudiate  its  authority.  He  said  nothing  to  the  Tennesseeans. 

In  1 8 14  Mobile  had  150  houses  and  most  of  the  population 
did  not  speak  Enghsh.  Fort  Charlotte,  its  ancient  defense, 
was  a  small  work  so  placed  that  it  protected  nothing  but  the 
ground  covered  by  its  guns.  The  key  to  the  position  was  thirty 
miles  from  the  town  at  the  entrance  to  the  bay.  Here  the 
channel  lies  between  some  islands  and  Mobile  Point,  a  long 
sandspit  thrust  out  from  the  eastern  mainland.  On  the  end  of 
this  spit  Wilkinson  in  1813,  just  before  his  departure  for  the 
North,  ordered  the  erection  of  a  fortification  which  he  called 
Fort  Bowyer.  Its  walls  were  of  sand,  and  it  was  equipped  with 
twenty  gims  of  various  sizes.  The  work  was  begun,  but  Flournoy 
thought  little  of  it  and  did  nothing  toward  finishing  it.  In 
fact,  he  thought  so  Httle  of  Mobile  as  a  mihtary  post  that  he 
advised  the  government  to  withdraw  the  garrison.  The  secre- 
tary of  war  liked  the  suggestion  and  sent  it  to  Jackson  for  his 
consideration,'  who  was  so  far  from  accepting  it  that  imme- 
diately after  his  arrival  in  the  town,  he  sent  down  Major  Law- 
rence with  160  men'  who  by  working  day  and  night  for  two  weeks 
placed  the  fort  in  a  tolerable  state  of  defense. 

This  was  not  a  moment  too  soon.  September  1 2th,  four  British 
ships  commanded  by  Captain  Percy,  of  the  navy,  appeared 
off  the  fort.  They  v/ere  the  Hermes,  22  guns;  the  Carron,  20 
guns;  and  the  Sophie  and  the  Childers,  18  each.  They  came 
from  Pensacola  and  anchoring  six  miles  east  of  Fort  Bowyer, 
put    ashore   60  marines  and   120   Indians,*  who  immediately 

"Monroe  to  Jackson,  September  7. 1814,  Jackson  Mss.  For  NichoUs's  proclamations  see  Latour  Historical 
Memoir,  appendix,  page  vii.,  and  Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  338. 

'Armstrong  to  Jackson,  July  2,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

•Latour  says  one  hundred  and  thirty.     Historical  Memoir,  34. 

«The  figures  follow  James,  the  English  historian,  Military  Occurrences,  U..  343-  Latour  says  one  hundred 
and  twenty  marines  and  six  hundred  Indians,  Eistoricd  Memoir,  40,  and  Reid  and  Eaton  make  the  Indian. 
four  hundred.     Jackson,  a34- 


134  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

constructed  some  weak  earthworks  within  cannon  shot  of  the 
fort.  The  Americans  with  their  long  guns  drove  them  back  to 
a  respectful  distance,  and  they  were  useless  in  the  battle  of  the 
fifteenth.  They  seem  to  have  been  landed  merely  to  intercept 
the  garrison  if  it  tried  to  escape  by  land. 

After  three  days  spent  in  taking  soundings  and  in  making  other 
preparations,  Percy,  on  the  fifteenth,  brought  his  four  ships,  the 
Hermes  leading,  into  position  for  attack.  The  channel  was 
narrow  and  only  two  vessels,  the  Hermes  and  the  Sophie,  got 
in  easy  distance.  If  aU  of  them  could  have  been  brought  into 
action  at  once,  it  would  still  have  been  hazardous  for  them 
unsupported  by  a  strong  landing  party  to  try  to  destroy  earth- 
works, and  Percy,  who  was  an  able  officer,  would  not  have  made 
the  attempt  if  he  had  not,  like  Pakenham  at  New  Orleans,  felt 
contempt  for  the  fighting  qualities  of  the  Americans. 

The  battle  opened  at  half  past  four  in  the  afternoon  and 
was  waged  fiercely  from  the  first.  Lawrence's  men  served 
their  pieces  with  precision  and  at  the  end  of  an  hour  one  of  the 
shots  cut  the  cable  of  the  Hermes,  and  in  the  hot  fire  the  vessel 
became  unmanageable.  Drifting  directly  under  the  American 
guns  it  was  raked  by  a  heavy  fire,  the  crew  lost  control,  forsook 
the  deck,  and  the  ship  went  on  a  sand  bank  still  within  range  of 
the  fort.  Percy  now  decided  to  abandon  the  ship  and  accom- 
plished the  feat  with  coolness,  first  setting  her  on  fire  to  keep 
her  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  his  foe.  All  his  wounded 
were  transferred  to  the  Sophie,  which  was  so  severely  used 
that  it  was  thought  advisable  to  withdraw  her  also  from  the 
engagement.  As  the  three  survivors  sailed  away,  the  Hermes  was 
burning  brightly  and  at  eleven  at  night  blew  up  with  a  great 
report.  This  beautiful  vessel,with  31  men  killed  and  40  wounded, 
was  the  British  loss,  while  Lawrence  reported  only  4  killed  and 
5  woimded.  Percy  embarked  his  landing  party  and  returned 
immediately  to  Pensacola,  where  hopes  of  success  had  been  high. 


OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,  1814  135 

The  day  before  the  battle,  Jackson,  in  response  to  a  request 
from  Lawrence,  sent  reinforcements  to  Fort  Bowyer.  They 
arrived  during  the  bombardment  and  concluding  that  it  was 
impossible  to  reach  the  garrison  returned  at  once  to  Mobile. 
While  still  on  the  bay  they  heard  the  report  of  the  exploding 
Hermes,  construed  it  as  disaster  to  their  friends,  and  hastened 
to  Jackson  with  the  news  that  the  fort  was  blown  up.  For 
many  hours  there  was  a  sad  state  of  consternation  in  the  town. 
It  was  not  until  the  seventeenth,  probably  in  the  afternoon,  that 
the  commander  knew  that  the  Americans  were  successful.' 

The  repulse  of  the  British  brought  to  a  close  all  Nicholls's 
boasted  plans  for  movements  into  the  interior,  if,  indeed,  he 
seriously  entertained  them.  It  produced  on  the  Indians  an 
effect  favorable  to  the  Americans.  Jackson  thought,  also, 
that  it  was  a  good  time  to  impress  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana, 
and  he  sent  forth  two  proclamations  with  that  purpose.  In 
one  he  called  on  the  Louisianians  to  observe  how  the  intruders 
were  driven  back  and  urged  them  to  rally  to  the  support  of  their 
government.  In  the  other  he  made  a  strong  appeal  to  the  free 
people  of  color  in  Louisiana,  telling  them  to  organize  in  corps 
under  the  direction  of  the  governor  of  the  state  in  order  to 
protect  their  homes  and  liberty.' 

For  nearly  three  months  after  this  event  the  British  advance 
expedition  lay  quietly  in  Pensacola,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the 
main  body.  Jackson,  ignorant  of  what  was  planned,  burned 
with  a  desire  to  get  at  them.  He  threw  aside  all  scruples  about 
violating  neutrality,  as  he  might  well  do;  for  Florida  was  really 
not  neutral  territory.  He  determined  to  wait  no  more  for 
the  approval  of  government,  but  to  make  a  quick  march  on 
Pensacola  as  soon  as  he  could  get  reinforcements  which  he 


'Jackson  to  Butler,  September  17, 1814,  Jackson  Mss.  shows  that  he  did  not  know  of  the  victory  when  th« 
letter  was  written.  On  the  same  day,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Lawrence  complimenting  him  on  the  victory.  Latour, 
Historical  Memoir,  43. 

>For  texts  of  these  proclamations  see  Latour,  Bislorical  Memoir,  Appendix,  pages  xsix  and  xxxi. 


136  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

expected  from  Tennessee  by  way  of  Forts  Strother  and  Jackson. 
He  sent  urgent  orders  northward  where  Coffee  was  preparing 
to  march  with  a  strong  body  of  cavalry  and  mounted  riflemen. 
Meantime,  reliable  information  continually  arrived,  making 
it  appear  that  the  Indians,  spite  of  their  respect  for  the  Ameri- 
can successes,  were  in  a  dangerous  frame  of  mind.  One  of 
Nicholls's  first  acts  was  to  send  agents  among  the  friendly  tribes 
urging  them  to  save  their  hunting  grounds  while  they  could 
have  British  assistance  and  inviting  them  to  send  delegates  to 
consult  with  him  in  Florida.  Many  chiefs,  particularly  of 
the  Creeks,  who  were  disappointed  at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson, 
accepted  the  invitation.  One  of  them  was  the  Big  Warrior 
himself,  the  leading  friendly  Creek  at  the  council,  who  signed 
the  treaty  with  great  reluctance.  Americans  who  returned  from 
Pensacola  reported  that  he  visited  the  place  and  was  entertained 
by  the  English  commander.  They  also  reported  that  Captain 
Woodbine  was  daily  drilling  his  savage  recruits  and  boasting 
that  all  the  friendly  Creeks  were  about  to  forsake  the  Ameri- 
cans/ All  this  made  Jackson  very  anxious  to  deliver  a  blow 
at  the  centre  of  mischief. 

When  he  reached  Mobile,  August  15,  he  had  under  his 
command  2,378  regulars,  distributed  at  various  points  on  the 
coast  and  including  the  2nd,  3rd,  7th,  39th,  and  44th  regiments, 
all  of  which  were  much  less  than  regulation  size.'  These  were 
intended  for  the  defense  of  the  department  against  possible 
external  danger.  To  fill  the  forts  erected  in  the  newly  conquered 
Creek  territory  the  secretary  of  war  in  July,  18 14,  called  for 
2,500  Tennessee  militia,  fixing  September  20th,  for  their  assem- 
bling. Col.  Robert  Butler,  adjutant-general,  was  in  Nashville 
supervising  the  raising  of  these  troops  when,  on  August  27th, 
news  came  to  Mobile  that  Nicholls  was  at  Pensacola.    Jackson 

•Claiborne  to  Jackson,  August  39,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
'Adams,  History  0/  the  United  States,  VIII.,  316. 


OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,  1814  137 

got  the  information  at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  before 
he  slept  wrote  several  urgent  letters  calling  out  every  available 
man  for  the  defense  of  the  coast.  Butler  was  directed  to  h:is- 
ten  the  march  of  the  militia,  the  Louisiana  and  Mississippi 
militia  were  summoned,  the  friendly  Indians  were  called  out, 
and  the  contractors  were  ordered  to  place  supplies  for  3,000 
men  along  the  Coosa-Alabama  line  of  transportation.  Fort 
Jackson  was  named  as  the  place  of  rendezvous:  it  was  100 
miles  from  Pensacola  and  the  road  thither  was  good. 

His  letters  to  Butler  are  as  full  of  details  as  if  he  were  still 
major-general  of  the  Tennessee  militia.  He  shows  that  he  un- 
derstands all  the  conditions  at  home,  and  in  one  characteristic 
outburst  expresses  his  deep  anxiety  at  the  situation.  "I  would 
to  God,  John  Hutchings  could  come,"  he  exclaims,  "I  wish  you 
would  say  to  the  Irish  to  drop  their  race  and  betake  themselves  to 
the  defense  of  their  country.  If  this  was  not  in  the  way,  I  know 
Joney  would  bring  a  company  of  mounted  men  into  the  field.'" 

The  prospect  of  a  campaign  in  Florida  brought  a  warm  re- 
sponse from  the  men  of  Tennessee,  and  Butler  found  his  task 
easy.  October  5th,  Coffee  marched  southward  with  2,000 
horsemen  from  West  Tennessee:  on  the  journey  he  was  joined 
by  500  more  from  the  east  and  by  some  irregular  companies 
to  the  number  of  300,  so  that  he  arrived  at  the  rendezvous  with 
2,800  enthusiastic  followers.  Jackson,  aware  of  his  approach, 
moved  out  of  Mobile  on  October  25th,  and  the  two  bodies  were 
united  at  Pierce's  Stockade,  or  Mills,  on  the  Alabama  River.' 

Halting  here  to  reorganize  his  forces,  he  sent  the  secretary 
of  war  a  statement  of  his  motives,  saying: 

As  I  act  without  orders  of  the  government,  I  deem  it  impor- 
tant to  state  to  you  my  reasons  for  the  measure  I  am  about 

'Jackson  to  R.  Butler,  August  27  and  28,  and  September  8,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

•R.  Butler  to  Coffee,  September  10  and  13;  Co£fee  to  Dyer,  September  11  and  October  i;  HajTie  to  Coffee, 
October  19;  Coffee  to  Governor  Blount,  October  4.  1814;  Jackson  Mss. 


138  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

to  adopt.  First  I  conceive  the  safety  of  this  section  of  the 
union  depends  upon  it.  The  hostihty  of  the  Governor  of  Pen- 
sacola  in  permitting  the  place  to  assume  the  character  of  British 
territory  by  resigning  the  command  of  the  fortress  to  them, 
permitting  them  to  fit  an  expedition  against  the  United  States, 
and  after  its  failure  to  return  to  the  town,  refit,  and  make  ar- 
rangements for  a  second  expedition.  At  the  same  time  making 
me  a  declaration  that  he  (the  governor)  had  armed  the  Indians 
and  sent  them  into  our  territory.  Knowing  at  the  same  time 
that  these  very  Indians  had  under  the  command  of  a  British 
officer  captured  our  citizens  and  destroyed  their  property  within 
our  own  territory.' 

The  whole  number  of  men  fit  for  duty  at  Pierce's  Stockade 
was  now  about  four  thousand,  but  780  of  them  were  Indians.' 
Lack  of  forage  in  Florida  made  that  region  difficult  for  horse- 
men, and  all  but  1,000  of  Coffee's  men  were  ordered  to  stay 
with  their  horses  on  the  banlcs  of  the  Alabama.  On  the  after- 
noon of  November  6th,  the  rest  of  the  force,  3,000  men,  were 
before  Pensacola.  The  commander  halted  long  enough  to  send 
in  his  demands  under  a  flag  of  truce.  His  messenger  was  that 
Major  Peire,  of  the  44th  regiment,  who  was  Wilkinson's  mes- 
senger when  Mobile  was  seized  in  18 13,'  and  he  was  sent  to 
announce  to  the  Spaniard  that  Jackson  came  not  to  make 
war  on  Spain,  but  to  insist  on  the  neutrality  of  Florida.  In 
order  that  this  might  be  ensured,  Jackson  demanded  that  the 
Barrancas  and  other  fortifications  be  placed  in  his  hands  in 
one  hour  and  without  armed  resistance:  otherwise,  he  added, 
"I  will  not  hold  myself  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  my  en- 
raged soldiers  and  warriors."'  Jackson  was  thus  threatening 
to  use  the  same  methods  of  distressing  the  enemy  which  the 


'Jackson  to  secretary  of  war,  October  26,  1814,  Jackson  Mss.    The  British  olScer  referred  to  is  Woodbine. 
'Jackson's  morning  report  for  October  30,  gives  the  number  as  41 17,  but  its  computations  seem  defective. 
Se«  Jackson  Mss. 
•Hamilton,   Colonial  Mobile,   559. 
*A  copy  19  in  Jackson  Mss.     See  also  Reid  and  Eaton,  Jackson,  247. 


OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,  1814  139 

Americans  complained  so  loudly  of  the  British  for  using  in 
the  Northwest.  But  the  letter  was  not  delivered.  The  gover- 
nor, mindful,  perhaps,  of  the  American  general's  letter  of  the 
preceding  August  30th,  fired  on  the  flag  of  truce,  and  Major 
Peire  returned  to  the  army.  It  was  then  too  late  in  the  after- 
noon to  begin  an  attack,  but  arrangements  were  made  for  one 
in   the  early  morning. 

Pensacola  lies  on  the  shore  of  the  bay  and  the  defenses  were 
constnicted  on  the  theory  that  it  would  be  attacked  from  the 
west  along  the  beach.  The  British  ships,  seven  in  number, 
were  so  placed  that  their  guns  could  command  this  approach. 
East  of  the  town  the  beach  was  narrow  but  undefended,  and 
Jackson  determined  to  attack  from  this  quarter.  Early  in  the 
morning  he  sent  a  column  of  500  to  make  a  feint  on  the  west 
and  threw  his  main  body  to  the  opposite  side  by  a  rapid  detour. 
He  thus  entered  the  streets  of  the  town  before  the  men-of-war 
could  change  their  position,  and  before  the  Spanish  authorities 
realized  his  tactics.  In  the  streets  there  was  a  sharp  battle. 
A  battery  opened  on  him  with  solid  shot  and  grape,  while  a 
musketry  fire  raked  his  flanks  from  the  houses  and  garden. 
Captain  Laval,  of  the  3d  regiment,  led  the  advance  with  his 
company  and  two  field-pieces.  He  fell  in  the  streets  severely 
wounded,  but  his  men  carried  the  battery  in  good  style.  Other 
columns  penetrated  other  parts  of  the  city,  driving  the  Spanish 
soldiers  from  gardens  and  houses.  A  body  of  Choctaws  under 
Major  Blue  were  also  within  the  town  with  the  army.  As 
soon  as  the  governor  realized  that  these  forces  held  the  streets 
he  became  terrified  and  hastened  forward  with  a  flag  to  sur- 
render the  town  and  its  fortifications.  It  was  agreed  that  forts, 
arsenals,  and  armaments  should  be  given  over  to  the  Americans 
till  a  Spanish  force  should  arrive  strong  enough  to  enforce  the 
obligations  of  neutrality,  the  Americans  promising  to  respect 
the  persons  and  property  of  the  inhabitants.     But  when  the 


140  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

public  property  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Americans,  Jackscn 
was  careful  to  order  that  all  arms  in  the  town  worth  transport- 
ing should  be  sent  at  once  to  Fort  Montgomery,  a  new  post 
in  Alabama/ 

One  of  the  places  which  the  governor  promised  to  surrender 
was  the  Barrancas,  which  commanded  the  entrance  of  the 
bay  fourteen  miles  from  Pensacola.  It  had  been  in  the  hands  of 
the  British  since  the  arrival  of  Nicholls.  Jackson  gave  himself 
much  pleasure  in  the  thought  that  he  should  turn  them  out 
and  probably  make  them  his  prisoners.  He  was  preparing 
to  take  the  place  on  the  morning  of  •  the  eighth  when  it  was 
abandoned  and  blown  up  by  the  occupants,  in  order  that  it 
might  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Americans.'  Gathering 
all  their  supplies  and  taking  Woodbine  and  the  Indian  allies 
on  board  the  ships,  the  British  sailed  away  in  the  early  morning, 
leaving  Jackson  with  a  barren  victory.  He  felt  some  chagrin 
at  losing  out  of  his  grasp  both  garrison  and  vessels.  But  the 
destruction  of  the  Barrancas  may  have  been  fortunate  for 
the  Americans.  It  kept  their  commander  from  attempting 
to  hold  it,  which  would  have  been  a  costly  experiment.  He 
at  last  realized  that  his  work  in  Pensacola  was  done  and  on 
the  ninth  set  out  for  his  own  country.  On  the  thirteenth  he 
arrived  on  the  Tensas.' 

Admirers  of  Jackson's  courage  and  honesty  have  frequently 
to  deplore  his  crude  intellect,  and  they  must  feel  a  little  disap- 
pointment at  the  manner  in  which  he  swallowed  his  anger  and 
left  Pensacola.  To  the  Spanish  governor  he  wrote:  "Finding 
that  the  Barrancas  and  fortifications  adjacent  to  it,  have  been 
surrendered  to  and  blown  up  by  the  British,  contrary  to  the 
good  faith  I  was  induced  to  place  in  your  promises,  I  find  it 

ijackson  to  Hayne,  November  8,  1814,  Jackson  Mss.    A  copy  of  the  terms  of  surrender  is  in  the  Jackson 
Mss. 
•Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  page  so,  says  that  the  British  persuaded  the  Spaniards  to  blow  up  the  fort. 
•Jackson  to  Blount,  November  14,  1814,  Jackson  Mss.  give  the  writer's  account  of  this  movement. 


OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,  1814  141 

out  of  my  power  to  protect  your  neutrality  as  I  was  willing  to 
have  done.  The  Enemy  having  disappeared  from  your  Town 
and  the  hostile  Creeks  fled  to  the  forest,  I  retire  from  your 
Town,  and  you  are  again  at  liberty  to  occupy  your  Fort,  as 
I  received  it  for  the  protection  of  your  citizens."  One  of  his 
officers  was  wounded  severely  and  had  to  be  left  behind.  Re- 
ferring to  him,  Jackson  wrote  to  the  governor,  forgetful  of  the 
obligations  of  courtesy:  "I  shall  therefore  expect  from  you 
sir,  that  attention  and  security  for  the  person  of  this  officer 
that  is  due,  and  every  brave  and  honorable  man  would  extend 
to  another  whose  misfortunes  had  placed  him  in  his  power.'" 
Jackson  was  not  a  generous  foe,  and  the  frontiersman's  habits 
of  braggadocio  and  bluster  were  very  deeply  fixed  in  his  nature. 
The  excursion  into  Florida  satisfied  the  Southwestern  feeHng 
against  Spain,  it  improved  the  morale  of  the  army,  it  impressed 
the  Indians  who  saw  Woodbine  and  NichoUs  for  the  second 
time  scampering  away  from  the  irate  victor  of  Tohopeka,  it 
strengthened  the  weak  knees  in  Louisiana,'  and  it  gave  Jackson 
himself  added  confidence  in  the  ability  of  his  army.  ''My 
pride  was  never  more  heightened,"  said  he,  "than  on  viewing 
the  uniform  firmness  of  my  troops,  and  with  what  undaunted 
courage  they  advanced  with  a  strong  fort  ready  to  assail  them 
on  the  right,  seven  British  vessels  on  the  left,  strong  block- 
houses and  batteries  of  cannon  on  the  front,  but  they  still  ad- 
vanced with  unshaken  firmness,  [and]  entered  the  town.  .  .  . 
The  steady  firmness  of  my  troops  has  drew  a  just  respect  from 
our  enemies:  it  has  confirmed  the  red  sticks'  that  they  have 
no  stronghold  or  protection  only  in  the  friendship  of  the  United 
States.  The  good  order  and  conduct  of  my  troops  whilst  in 
Pensacola  has  convinced  the  Spaniards  of  our  friendship 
and   our    prowess,    and    has    drew    from    the    citizens    an 

ijackson  to  the  governor  of  Pensacola,  November  g,  1814,  Jackson  Mss.  (j  letters). 

^Governor  Claiborne  to  Jackson,  November  19,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

'The  hostile  Creeks  were  called  "Red  Sticks"  because  they  painted  their  war  clubs  red. 


142  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

expression,  that  our  Choctaws  are  more  civilized  than  the 
British.'" 

Before  we  criticize  this  expedition  it  is  necessary  to  consider 
Jackson's  situation.  When  it  was  undertaken,  the  President 
and  cabinet  were  fugitives  from  the  national  capital  and  he  was 
left  for  weeks  to  act  on  his  own  judgment.  He  knew  nothing 
of  the  great  attack  which  was  impending  and  had  before  him 
the  simple  task  of  beating  off  the  dangers  which  seemed  to 
threaten.  The  visible  peril  was  an  attack  from  the  force  then 
in  Pensacola,  and  following  his  characteristic  strateg}^  he  struck 
hard  and  swiftly  at  the  point  at  which  trouble  seemed  to  be 
brewing.  In  the  cataclysm  at  Washington  the  country  got 
a  new  secretary  of  war  in  the  place  of  the  nerveless  Armstrong. 
James  Monroe,  to  whom  the  place  went,  qualified  on  October 
ist,  after  holding  the  office  for  a  month  as  an  ad  interim  ap- 
pointee. He  had  more  energy  than  his  predecessor  and  he  and 
Jackson  were  old  friends.  One  of  his  first  letters  to  the  general 
was  in  reply  to  the  latter's  report  of  September  9th,  giving 
an  account  of  his  correspondence  with  the  governor  of  West 
Florida.  He  advised  Jackson  to  leave  the  insolent  language 
of  the  governor  to  the  diplomats  and  ordered  him  to  do  nothing 
which  would  bring  on  a  war  with  Spain.'  When  this  letter 
reached  its  destination  the  expedition  was  a  thing  of  the  past, 
and  to  the  diplomats  was  left  the  task  of  soothing  the  ruffled 
feelings  of  the  Spanish  court,  which,  indeed,  proved  no  formida- 
ble task,  so  clearly  had  Spain  been  in  the  wrong. 

Jackson  did  not  fear  the  frowns  of  the  government;  for  he 
had  reassuring  information  from  a  private  source.  September 
23d,  a  friend  in  the  war  department  to  whom  he  had  made 
application  wrote  after  a  two  hours'  conversation  with  Monroe: 
"You  will  receive  all  the  support  in  the  power  of  the  government, 

■Jackson  to  Blount,  Nov.  14,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
iMooroe  to  Jackson,  October  21,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


OPERATIONS  AROUND  MOBILE,   1814  143 

relating  to  the  Spaniards,  if  it  should  be  necessary  to  notice 
them  in  a  hostile  manner.  Colonel  Monroe  spoke  in  strong 
terms  on  the  subject,  as  well  as  on  subjects  relating  to  exten- 
sive national  policy.'" 

From  the  Tensas,  Jackson  hastened  to  Mobile.  Reliable 
information  made  it  evident  that  he  was  needed  in  New  Orleans. 
During  the  recent  operations,  he  received  many  letters  from 
that  quarter,  urging  his  immediate  presence  there,  but  he 
considered  the  work  then  at  hand  more  important  and  refused 
to  leave  until  it  was  thoroughly  finished. 

Two  things  must  be  done  before  he  could  leave  the  present 
position:  Forces  must  be  provided  to  defend  it  against  a  pos- 
sible surprise  by  the  British,  and  steps  must  be  taken  to  protect 
the  settlements  against  the  hostile  Creeks  who  were  still  lurking 
in  Florida.  To  the  former  task  he  assigned  the  2d,  3d,  and 
39th  regiments*  with  a  body  of  Georgia  militia  now  approach- 
ing through  the  Creek  nation,  all  to  be  under  the  command 
of  Major-General  Mcintosh,  of  the  Georgia  militia.  Brigadier- 
General  Winchester  was  left  in  command  until  the  arrival  of 
Mcintosh.'  Major  Blue  of  the  39th  regiment,  M^as  given  com- 
mand of  the  force  intended  to  operate  against  the  Indians.  It 
was  composed  of  certain  companies  from  West  Tennessee,  three 
from  East  Tennessee,  and  one  from  Mississippi  Territory,  in  aU 
1,000  horsemen,  together  with  the  Choctaw,  Chickasaw,  and 
friendly  Creek  allies.  Blue  was  ordered  to  operate  along  the 
Escambia.*  Having  made  these  arrangements  to  his  satisfac- 
tion, Jackson  set  out  on  November  21st,  for  New  Orleans, 
going  by  land  so  as  to  inspect  the  intervening  country. 


'Charles  Cassiday  to  Jackson,  war  office,  Washington,  September  23,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
•General  orders,  November  14,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
•Jackson  to  Winchester,  November  14,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
•Jackson  to  secretary  of  war,  November  20,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS 

New  Orleans  is  situated  105  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  and  has  two  water  approaches,  one  by  the  river 
and  the  other  by  Lakes  Borgne  and  Pontchar train.  The  latter 
opens  on  Mississippi  Sound,  which  extends  as  far  east  as  the  mouth 
of  Mobile  Bay  and,  separated  from  the  Gulf  by  a  chain  of  small 
islands,  makes  a  protected  communication  between  these  two 
important  gulf  ports.  Between  the  river  and  the  lake  is  a  nar- 
row strip  of  land  on  which  the  city  is  placed  fronting  immediately 
on  the  river  and  distant  from  Lake  Pontchartrain  about  four 
miles.  The  roads  which  lead  to  it  are  built  through  tropical 
forest  and  are  frequently  bordered  by  swamps  impassable 
for  bodies  of  troops,  so  that  the  way  may  be  impeded  by  fallen 
timber,  and  a  few  hardy  defenders  may  hold  it  against  greatly 
superior  forces.  The  two  lakes  are  connected  by  the  Rigolets, 
a  narrow  channel,  commanded  in  18 14,  by  a  small  fort  at  a 
place  known  as  Petites  Coquilles  and  later  known  as  Fort  Pike. 
There  were  six  obvious  ways  of  reaching  the  city  described  by 
Jackson's  engineers  as  follows: 

I.  The  River  from  Its  Mouth  —  This  was  the  most  usual  ap- 
proach, but  it  was,  nevertheless,  very  difficult.  The  waters 
of  the  Mississippi  reach  the  Gulf  through  five  comparatively 
shallow  "passes,"  the  best  of  which,  then  about  twelve  feet 
deep,'  was  defended  by  an  old  fort  at  Belize,  which  was  useless 
because  the  river  could  be  entered  by  one  of  the  other  "passes." 
Fifty  miles  higher  up  at  a  sharp  angle  in  the  river  was  Fort 

*A.  p.  Hkyne  to  Jackson,  November  27, 1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

144 


THE  DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  145 

St.  Philip  and  across  the  river  from  it  Old  Fort  Bourbon.  The 
former  was  an  important  work,  but  in  the  summer  of  18 14  it 
was  in  a  state  of  neglect,  and  the  latter  was  dismantled.  The 
best  defense  of  the  river  was  65  miles  still  higher  up  at  the 
English  Turn.  Here  the  Mississippi  makes  so  decided  a  turn 
that  for  three  or  four  miles  it  is  flowing  nearly  due  north.  A 
breeze  which  would  bring  a  ship  to  this  point  would  be  nearly 
dead  ahead  when  the  ship  rounded  the  curve  and  made  south- 
ward.' 

2.  Chef  Menteur  —  Fifteen  miles  east  of  the  city,  on  Lake 
Pontchartrain,  was  this  high  district.  It  was  connected  with  the 
city  by  a  narrow  ridge  of  dry  ground  between  the  swamps. 
The  ridge  was  known  as  the  Plains  of  Gentilly.  The  inhabi- 
tants in  September  thought  this  the  most  iHkely  means  of 
approach.     It  was  then  unfortified  but  easily  defended. 

3.  River  aux  C hems  and  the  Bayou  Terre  aux  Boeufs — East 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  parallel  with  the  river 
were  a  bay,  a  short  river,  and  a  bayou,  which  together  gave  an 
independent  line  of  approach  to  the  east  bank  of  the  river  at 
the  EngHsh  Turn,  sixteen  miles  from  New  Orleans.  It  was 
only  navigable  by  small  boats. 

4.  The  Bayou  St.  John  —  This  waterway  begins  at  Lake 
Pontchartrain  and  extends  straight  west  till,  at  a  distance  of 
four  miles  from  the  origin,  it  is  within  two  miles  of  what  were 
then  the  city  limits.  The  bayou  was  navigable  only  for  small 
boats,  it  could  be  made  impassable  in  a  few  hours  by  felling 
trees,  and  the  swamps  on  either  side  were  considered  quite 
impenetrable. 

5.  The  Bayou  La  Fourche  —  This  was  situated  west  of  the 
Mississippi.  Beginning  at  the  gulf  shore  eighty  miles  from  the 
mouth  of  that  river  it  extends  north  to  a  point  where  it  "forks 
from  the  Mississippi."    It  was  reported  to  be  easily  navigable 

K^buborne  to  Jackson,  November  4;  Jackson  to  Claiborne,  December  10, 1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


146  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

but  narrow  and  readily  obstructed.  It  was  estimated  that 
I, GOO  men  stationed  midway  between  the  fork  and  the  city 
could  march  to  the  bayou  on  the  appearance  of  an  enemy  and 
hold  him  off. 

6.  Barataria  Bay  —  Seventy  miles  west  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  with  a  channel  ten  feet  deep  and  capable  of  easy 
defense,  this  bay  offered  through  a  number  of  connected  bayous 
and  the  canals  on  the  west  bank  a  communication  with  the 
river  immediately  opposite  the  city.  This  hne  was  difl&cult 
and  a  block  house  with  a  few  cannon  at  a  point  called  "The 
Temple"  would,  it  was  thought,  make  it  secure.' 

When  Jackson  assumed  command  of  the  seventh  district,  the 
defenses  of  New  Orleans  were  much  neglected.  At  Fort  St. 
Philip  were  twenty-eight  heavy  guns,  twenty  four-pounders; 
and  there  was  a  battery  at  English  Turn,  designed  for  nine 
pieces,  but  its  platforms,  magazines,  and  barracks  were  un- 
finished. Fort  St.  John,  at  the  mouth  of  the  bayou  of  the  same 
name,  was  also  designed  for  nine  pieces,  but  only  four  of  them 
were  mounted  and  the  place  was  in  charge  of  a  subaltern  with 
twenty  men.  Another  small  fort  on  Lake  Pontchartrain  was 
at  Petites  Coquilles,  in  such  a  state  of  decay  that  it  would 
take  60  men  two  months  to  make  it  defensible.' 

The  forces  in  the  city  and  its  dependencies  in  July  included 
120  men  in  the  city  barracks,  95  in  Fort  St.  Charles  —  an  old 
and  useless  fort  well  surrounded  by  the  houses  of  the  citi- 
zens—  the  44th  regiment  numbering  337,  and  128  men  in  gar- 
rison at  St.  Philip.  In  all,  there  were  680  men,  of  whom  at 
least  208  were  not  present   for  duty.'     Beside  these   the  7th 


•This  description  and  enumeration  of  approaches  to  the  city  are  taken  from  the  letter  which  the  com- 
mittee of  citizens  of  New  Orleans  appointed  September  14, 1814,  sent  to  Jackson  and  which  is  preserved  in 
the  Jackson  Mss. 

'McRea  to  Jackson,  September  g  and  19,  and  October  20,  1814;  Schamburg  and  Morgan  to  Jackson, 
October  31,  and  Wollenstonecraft  to  Jackson,  September  27,  1814,  Jackson  Ms8.  But  the  report  of  the 
last  mentioned  does  not  quite  agree  with  McRea's  or  with  itself. 

•See  Monthly  Report  for  July,  Jackson  Mss. 


THE  DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  147 

regiment,  was  at  Tchifonte  with  465  men  and  at  the  request  of 
McRea  it  was  added  to  the  force  in  the  city.'  New  Orleans 
was  a  naval  station  under  the  command  of  Commodore  Daniel 
T.  Patterson.  His  effective  force  was  six  gunboats  and  one 
schooner  and  these  were  short  of  sailors.'  The  fleet  had  long 
been  blockaded  by  the  British  ships  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  which  also  kept  in  the  river  a  large  number  of 
trading  vessels.  Vast  quantities  of  supplies  and  of  cotton 
and  sugar,  the  accumulation  of  two  years  of  blockade,  were 
also  in  the  city.  It  was  not  so  easy  for  the  enemy  to  close 
the  entrance  to  Lake  Borgne  and  out  of  it  small  ships  were 
accustomed  to  escape  with  cargoes  for  Pensacola. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  serious  fears  were  felt  for 
the  loyalty  of  the  French  and  Spanish  population  in  Louisiana. 
Governor  Claiborne,  of  that  state,  himself  said  as  much  to 
Jackson  in  the  middle  of  August.'  But  a  month  later  he  was 
able  to  report  that  sentiment  was  changing  and  that  the  people 
seemed  to  be  rallying  to  the  call  for  troops.*  This  change  of 
sentiment  was  probably  due  to  the  early  successes  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, their  active  appeals  to  the  natives,  and  the  allegation, 
always  repeated  and  by  many  believed,  that  the  British  in- 
tended to  arm  the  slaves  against  their  masters."  So  fast  did 
the  revival  of  interest  proceed  that,  by  November  20th,  1,000 
of  the  state's  militia  and  some  hundreds  of  volunteers  were  in 
the  field  from  Louisiana.'    From  La  Fourche  southward  each 


'McRea  to  Jackson,  September  19  and  October  12;  also  Monthly  Reporf  of  the  yth  regiment,  December 
23,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

"Claiborne  to  Jackson,  November  4,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

'Colonel  Francois  CoUiel,  a  prominent  Creole,  was  discovered  sending  a  Spanish  officer  at  Pensacola  a 
description  of  the  defenses  of  New  Orleans  and  eipelled  from  Louisiana.  But  Colliel  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  if  Jackson  appeared  with  enough  forces  to  command  public  confidence  the  people  would 
support  him.  See  Colliel  to  Morales,  October  to;  Claiborne  to  Ja-.kson, October  zS.'.and  November  4, 1814, 
Jackson  Mss. 

♦Claiborne  to  Jackson,  August  16,  September  jo,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

»Claibometo  Jackson,  August  16  and  20,  September  20,  October  24, 1814;  al30  J.  Smith  to  J.icLwn,  August 
,;o,  18x4,  Jackson  Mss.     See  also  Gayarre,  History  0/  Louisiana,  IV.,  341-348. 

^Claiborne  to  Jackson,  November  20,  1814,  Jackoon  Mss. 


148  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

bank  of  the  river  was  settled  by  rich  sugar  planters.  In  this 
region  there  were  said  to  be  twenty-five  slaves  for  each  white 
person/  and  the  proportions  in  other  parts  of  the  state  were 
not  much  smaller.  In  view  of  the  fears  in  regard  to  the  slaves 
it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  a  more  general  response  should 
be  made  by  the  population.'  Nevertheless,  the  sensitiveness  of 
the  legislature  in  their  relations  with  Jackson  indicates  that 
there  was  ever  a  httle  hesitation  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 

It  was  August  27  th,  when  Jackson  at  Mobile  learned  that 
NichoUs  was  at  Pensacola  announcing  himself  the  herald  of  a 
great  expedition  which  should  take  Louisiana.  The  information 
was  soon  in  New  Orleans,  and  urgent  letters  were  sent  to  the 
commander  of  the  district  requesting  him  to  go  to  the  city. 
He  steadily  refused:  he  would  go  to  the  Mississippi,  he  said,  in 
good  time,  when  the  defenses  of  Mobile  were  satisfactory  and 
not  sooner.  "My  whole  force,"  he  said  impatiently,  "would 
not  satisfy  the  demands  they  [the  people  of  New  Orleans]  make.'" 

Meantime,  he  placed  Lieutenant- Co' onel  McRea  in  com- 
mand of  the  city  and  ordered  him  to  put  the  forts  in  the  best 
possible  condition  of  defense.  McRea  was  soon  in  conflict 
with  the  commandant  of  Fort  St.  Philip,  who  refused  either 
to  obey  him  or  to  cooperate.  Jackson  promptly  placed  all  the 
troops  in  Louisiana  under  the  coimnand  of  the  lieutenant- 
colonel  and  there  was  harmony  in  the  place.  But  he  needed 
for  New  Orleans  an  officer  of  higher  rank  and  reputation,  and 
he  asked  the  secretary  of  war  to  send  him  one.  In  compliance 
with  the  request  Brigadier- General  Edmund  Pendleton  Gaines 
was  ordered  to  New  Orleans,*  but  he  proceeded  so  slowly  that 
he  did  not  arrive  there  until  February  4,  181 5.  Jackson  also 
sent  his  inspector-general  to  examine  the  works  around  the 

>New  Orleans  committee  to  Jackson,  September  15,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

sin  1 81 1,  there  wa-.  a  negro  insurrection  in  Louisiana  and  the  memory  of  its  terror  was  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  the  people.     Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  266. 
'Jackson  to  secretary  of  war,  October  10, 1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
'Jackson  to  secretary  of  war,  August  25;  Monroe  to  Jackson,  December  7,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


THE  DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  149 

city.  The  reports  of  that  officer  showed  that  strengthening  the 
fortifications  was  going  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible  with 
the  slender  resources  of  the  district  and  the  confused  state  of 
the  local  authority.  Had  Jackson  himself  been  there  he  could 
hardly  have  done  more  than  was  done. 

While  these  orders  were  being  executed,  a  part  of  the  force 
at  New  Orleans  was  used  to  suppress  the  lawless  Baratarians, 
with  whose  immunity  from  arrest  the  governor  of  Florida  so  causti- 
cally reproached  Jackson.  These  men  had  the  technical  status 
of  privateers.  They  collected  from  various  sources  at  the  island 
of  Guadaloupe  and  sailed  as  privateers  under  French  licenses; 
but  the  capture  of  that  island  by  the  British  in  18 10,  and  the 
subsequent  expiration  of  their  licenses  made  it  necessary  for 
them  to  get  other  governmental  authority.  They  turned  to 
the  newly  proclaimed  revolutionary  republic  of  Cartagena, 
which  gladly  received  such  an  accession  of  maritime  strength 
and  gave  them  new  licenses.  They  had,  however,  to  find  a 
new  rendezvous  and  place  for  the  disposal  of  their  prizes.  They 
seized  Barataria  Bay,  which  was  excellently  situated  for  their 
purposes.  On  the  island  of  Grande  Terre,  in  this  bay,  they  sold 
their  captured  ships  and  cargoes  as  freely  as  if  the  trade  was 
unquestioned.  Latour  confesses  with  shame  that  planters  and 
merchants  of  the  best  standing  bought  supplies  and  other  goods 
there,  sending  them  into  the  city  or  parishes  without  paying 
import  duties.  "The  frequent  seizures  made  of  those  goods," 
says  he,  "were  but  an  ineffectual  remedy  of  the  evil,  as  the  great 
profit  yielded  by  such  parcels  as  escaped  the  vigilance  of  the 
custom-house  officers,  indemnified  the  traders  for  the  loss  of 
what  they  had  paid  for  the  goods  seized.  .  .  .  This  traffic 
was  at  length  carried  on  with  such  scandalous  notoriety  that 
the  agents  of  government  incurred  very  general  and  open  repre- 
hension, many  persons  contending  that  they  had  interested 
motives  for  conniving  at  such  abuses,  as  smuggling  was  a  source 


ISO  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

of  confiscation  from  which  they  derived  considerable  benefit."' 
The  Baratarians  received  protection  from  a  group  of  interested 
men  in  New  Orleans,  among  whom  was  Edward  Livingston, 
a  brilliant  but  not  too  scrupulous  lawyer  who  acted  as  their 
retained  counsel.  It  was  frequently  charged  that  most  of  the 
ships  had  no  commissions  and  were  really  pirates;  but  Latour, 
who  has  the  advantage  of  contemporary  knowledge  at  first 
hand,  says  this  was  never  proved.  He  thinks  all  had  licenses 
of  some  kind,  though  he  is  willing  to  admit  that  some  papers 
may  have  been  forged.  Granting  that  all  had  commissions  from 
Cartagena  they  were,  under  the  interpretation  of  international 
law  then  in  vogue,'  technically  pirates  until  the  United  States 
recognized  the  belligerency  of  that  republic'  Moreover,  their 
presence  in  Barataria  Bay  was  an  offense  against  the  neutrality 
obligations  of  the  United  States.  Thus,  there  were  three  grounds 
on  which  they  ought  to  have  been  suppressed.  Governor 
Claiborne  endeavored  to  drive  them  away.  Several  expeditions 
accomplished  nothing  but  to  force  them  into  temporary  flight 
with  all  their  goods,  and  they  returned  when  danger  ceased.' 
Neither  Wilkinson  nor  Flournoy  showed  a  disposition  to  appre- 
hend them,  but  in  Jackson  they  found  a  quick  and  determined 
foe,  although  it  was  to  the  navy  that  their  final  dispersion  was 
due. 

The  head  of  the  Baratarians  in  1814  was  Jean  Lafitte,  French 
born  and  formerly  a  New  Orleans  blacksmith,  a  man  of  courage, 
energy,  and  acknowledged  leadership.  Colonel  Nicholls  knew 
his  capacity  and  sought  to  draw  him  into  the  British  service. 
September  3,  18 14,  the  sloop  Sophia,  Captain  Lockyer  in 
command,  appeared  before  Grande  Terre  with  letters  from 


'Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  15. 

'Lawrence,  Principles  of  International  Law,  section  123. 

'Rumor  said  they  disposed  of  the  crews  of  their  prizes  in  genuine  pirate  fashion.     Ross  to  Jackson,  October 
31,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

•Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  aSg,  301,  312,  370. 


THE  DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  151 

NichoUs.  Jean  Lafitte  and  his  followers  \vere  invited  to  join 
the  British  in  the  campaign  against  the  Americans.  To  the 
former  was  oiEfered  a  commission  and  to  the  latter  assignments 
of  land;  but  the  freebooters  must  agree  to  distress  the  Spanish 
commerce  no  longer,  to  sell  their  ships  to  the  British,  and  to 
obey  the  orders  of  the  British  admirals.  It  was  demanded  that 
Lafitte  should  restore  the  goods  he  had  taken  from  the  English, 
but,  to  save  his  pride,  it  is  said,  he  received  a  verbal  offer  of 
$30,000  as  a  gratuity.  This  was  not  a  bad  bargain  for,  Jean 
Lafitte,  against  whom  the  Americans  were  about  to  take  action 
of  quite  another  kind;  but  he  thought  he  could  make  a  better 
bargain  elsewhere,  and  to  gain  time,  refused  to  give  a  positive 
answer.  He  asked  Lockyer  to  come  again  at  the  end  of  a  fort- 
night, when  he  would  accept  the  proposition  —  "Je  serais  tout 
a  vous, 

Lafitte  was  willing  to  give  up  his  roving  career,  but  he  pre- 
ferred to  trust  himself  in  American  hands.  Much  of  his  booty 
was  of  English  origin,  and  he  was  not  sure  that  an  Englishman 
would  keep  a  promise  so  liberally  made.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  had  friends  among  the  Louisianians,  many  of  his  followers 
were  of  American  birth  and  sympathy,  he  knew  that  the  South- 
west had  no  real  scruples  about  the  kind  of  warfare  he  was 
v/aging  on  Spanish  subjects,  and,  more  important  still,  he  had 
a  brother  in  a  New  Orleans  prison  on  a  serious  charge  and 
hoped  by  a  reconciliation  to  get  him  released.  He  saw  in  Lock- 
yer's  offer  a  means  of  rendering  himself  ser\aceable  to  the  Ameri- 
cans. He  sent  copies  of  the  Briton's  letters  to  New  Orleans 
and  offered  to  surrender  himself  to  Governor  Claiborne  if  past 
offenses  were  forgiven.  He  offered  to  defend  Barataria  Bay 
against  the  enemy  and  asserted  that  he  was  so  true  to  the  gov- 
ernment that,  if  his  offer  was  not  accepted,  he  would  sail  away 
with  his  establishment  rather  than  fight  against  the  LTnited 


^The  original  of  Lafitte's  letter,  September  4,  1S14,  as  it  seems,  is  in  the  Jackson  Mss. 


152  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

States.  At  this  juncture,  as  he  must  have  known,  a  body  of 
regulars  were  about  to  be  sent  to  disperse  or  capture  his  force, 
and  it  would  be  a  shrewd  turn  if  he  could  place  himself  and 
his  accumulated  booty  under  the  protection  of  the  American 
flag  in  time  to  avert  the  blow. 

The  authorities  in  New  Orleans,  state  and  national,  consid- 
ered his  proposition  a  trick  to  gain  time  and  its  only  effect 
v/as  to  hasten  the  departure  of  the  regulars.  Edward  Living- 
ston, however,  had  good  reason  to  know  the  truth  in  the  com- 
munication and  succeeded  in '  convincing  the  officials  and  the 
people  that  the  offer  of  Nicholls  to  Lafitte  was  evidence  that 
the  city  was  in  danger.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  he  any 
more  than  Jackson  suspected  the  overwhelming  nature  of  the 
force  which  was  about  to  be  thrown  against  the  city. 

September  i6th,  the  American  expedition  was  before  Grande 
Terre.  Lafitte  did  not  stay  to  oppose  it.  With  his  best  ships 
and  most  of  his  followers  he  escaped  out  of  the  bay,  and  the 
victors  burned  all  the  spoil  which  they  could  not  take  away. 
They  captured  eight  small  vessels,  a  number  of  prisoners  whom 
they  held  for  trial,  a  large  amount  of  merchandise,  7,500  gun 
flints,  and  many  of  Lafitte's  papers.  Among  the  last  was  the 
reply  to  Lockyer,  which  the  writer  was  careful  not  to  send  to 
New  Orleans  when  he  revealed  the  overtures  made  to  him.  Its 
apparent  acceptance  of  the  Englishman's  offer  now  made  an 
impression  very  unfavorable  to  the  Baratarians.'  A  short 
time  later  news  came  that  Lafitte  was  again  on  the  coast  and 
had  headquarters  at  Cat  Island,  near  the  mouth  of  La  Fourche, 
and  that  he  was  still  engaged  in  smuggling.  This  did  not  tend 
to  modify  the  wrath  of  the  authorities;  but  he  genuinely  de- 
sired peace  and  continued  to  make  overtures  through  Livings- 

1  Colonel  Ross  to  Jackson,  October  3,  1814,  report  of  the  capture  of  Lafitte's  stronghold;  Wollenstonecraft 
to  Jackson,  September  13;  Lafitte  to  Lockyer,  original  French  copy,  September  4,  1814;  Jackson  Mss.  La- 
fitte's correspondence,  translated,  and  other  matter  of  a  similar  nature  is  in  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  Ap- 
pendix, numbers  4,  5,  and  6.  Also  Jackson  to  Claiborne,  September  30,  and  Jackscn's  comment  on  back  of 
Monroe  to  Jackson,  December  10,  1814,    Jackson  Mss. 


THE  DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  153 

ton.     He  seems  to  have  had  no  trouble  with  the  state  officials, 
but  the  cases  against  him  were  for  smuggling,  and  the  national 
officers  were  not  so  much  inclined  to  leniency,  probably  because 
they  were  not  so  much  affected  by  local  influence.     His  friends 
were  able  to  get  the  legislature  to  pass  resolutions  requesting 
the  district  attorney  to  abandon  the  cases  if  the  pirates  would 
agree  to  serve  in  the  army.'     The  request  was  not  granted  by 
that  officer;  but  later,  after  Jackson's  arrival  in  the  city,  Lafitte 
sought  an  interview,  coming  to  the  place  under  a  guarantee 
of  safety  from  Judge  Hall,  of  the  federal  court.     Up  to  this 
time,  Jackson  would  make  no  concessions  to  the  lawbreakers, 
but  he  saw  in  the  chief  of  the  sea  rovers  a  man  of  remarkable 
personality,  brave,  and  filled  with  the  war  spirit.     He  was  im- 
pressed, also,  by  his  evident  honesty  and  after  the  arrival  of 
the  British  agreed  to  receive  the  Baratarians  into  the  military 
service  of  the  government.'    Some  of  them  formed  a  corps  and 
in  the  defense  of  Jackson's  lines  below  New  Orleans  served 
with  great  success  batteries  three  and  four.     Others  joined  one  of 
the  three  companies  of  marines  and  acquitted  themselves  well. 
The    indictments   against    them    were    subsequently    dropped. 
The  Baratarians  made  a  good  impression  on  contemporaries. 
Latour,  writing  in  1816,  speaks  well  of  their  loyalty.'    They 
add  a  touch  of  romance  to  the  history  of  the  day,  and  their 
story  has  been  told  with   effect  —  probably  with   too  much 
warmth  —  by   many   writers. 

The  communication  from  Lafitte  and  other  information 
from  various  sources  convinced  the  people  of  New  Orleans  that 
their  city  was  in  danger.  The  place  was  filled  with  produce 
from  the  interior,  accumulated  through  a  two-years'  blockade, 

•Copy  of  the  resolutions  in  Jackson  Mss. 

The  Baratarians  were  on  an  island  in  the  swamps'  below  Baton  Rouge,  when'Coffee  arrived  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  he  was  anxious  to  take  steps  looking  to  their  suppression.  See  Coffee  to  Jackson,  December 
IS,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

•Claiborne  to  Jackson,  September  jo  and  October  17, 1814;  also  resolutions  of  Louisiana  legislature,  without 
date;  all  in  Jackson  Mss.    See  also  Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  356,  369,  and  411.;  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  71. 


154  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

credits  were  swollen  and  continued  to  increase  in  expectation 
of  the  final  day  of  liquidation,  and  specie,  even  for  fractional 
currency,  was  extremely  scarce.  If  the  city  should  be  seized 
many  a  fortune  would  collapse.  Thus  self-interest  as  well  as 
patriotism  prompted  the  leading  inhabitants  to  strive  to  beat 
ojff    the    danger. 

September  i6th,  a  public  meeting  was  called  to  promote  the 
cause  of  defense.  It  was  especially  desired  to  arouse  the  sup- 
port of  the  native  French  population,  about  whose  loyalty  there 
was  much  doubt.  Edward  Livingston  was,  of  all  the  prominent 
American  residents,  most  influential  with  this  class.  He  came 
forward  prominent^  in  the  movements  now  about  to  be  made 
and  it  proved  to  be  an  important  step  in  his  career.  He  intro- 
duced resolutions  in  the  meeting  of  September  i6th,  pledging 
the  state  and  city  to  their  best  exertions,  and  when  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  meeting  he  was  made 
its  chairman.  In  this  capacity  he  came  into  correspondence 
with  Jackson  in  Mobile,  later  became  his  aide,'  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  friendship  which  was  destined  to  make  him  a 
member  of  the  cabinet  and  foreign  minister. 

Livingston's  committee  strove  to  arouse  enthusiasm.  It 
was  appointed  the  day  after  Lawrence  drove  back  the  British 
ships  at  Fort  Bowyer,  and  the  news  of  that  event  gave  support 
to  its  efforts.  The  old  French  population  was  divided  in  its 
sympathy  between  the  Bourbons  and  Napoleon.  Of  the  latter 
party  were  a  number  of  persons  who  left  France  after  the  col- 
lapse of  their  leader  earlier  in  the  same  year.  One  of  them  was 
General  Humbert,  who  offered  his  services  to  Jackson.  En- 
listments were  stimulated  and  arguments  were  employed  to 
convince   the   Creole  planters   that   their  interests  demanded 

'Livingston  improved  his  opportunity  as  chairman  of  the  committee  to  ask  Jackson  to  give  him  the  rank 
of  aide.  The  latter  declined  because  he  did  not  approve  of  appointing  an  aide  detached  from  headquarters 
and  because  he  had  two  already,  the  number  allowed  him  by  the  government.  Jackson  to  Livingston,  Sep- 
tember 30,  October  23,  1814. 


THE  DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  155 

American  success.  Much  was  made  of  the  rumors  that  the 
British  would  stimulate  a  slave  rising.  Seconding  these  efforts 
came  Jackson's  proclamation  of  September  21st,  written  in 
exultation  over  the  defeat  of  the  British  at  Fort  Bowyer.  *'  Louis- 
ianians!"  he  exclaimed,  "The  proud  Briton,  the  natural  and 
sworn  enemy  of  all  Frenchmen,  has  called  upon  you  by  procla- 
mation to  aid  him  in  his  tyranny,  and  to  prostrate  the  whole 
temple  of  our  liberty.  Can  Louisianians,  can  Frenchmen, 
can  Americans  ever  stoop  to  be  the  slaves  or  allies  of  Britain!" 
Referring  to  the  Baratarians  he  said:  "Have  they  not  made 
offers  to  the  pirates  of  Barataria  to  join  them,  and  their  holy 
cause?  And  have  they  not  dared  to  insult  you  by  calling  on 
you  to  associate,  as  brethren,  with  them  and  this  hellish  ban- 
ditti!'" Neither  of  these  utterances  was  tactful.  The  Creoles 
resented  the  reference  to  slaves  of  the  British,  for  it  implied 
a  reflection  on  the  French  government,  to  which  they  were  at- 
tached; and  there  were  many  who  did  not  like  the  uncouth 
words  in  which  the  Baratarians  were  denounced.' 

Another  class  to  whom  Jackson  appealed  were  the  free  Ne- 
groes, of  whom  the  city  held  more  than  six  hundred,  and  some 
of  whom  were  wealthy.  Under  Spanish  rule  these  people  were 
called  upon  in  times  of  trouble  and  served  well.  The  Americans 
did  not  look  favorably  on  such  service,  but  allowed  a  small 
battalion  of  them  to  continue  its  organization  under  Colonel 
Fortier  and  Major  Lacoste,  with  colored  men  for  company 
officers.  August  11,  1814,  Governor  Claiborne  had  an  inter- 
view with  these  officers  and  found  them  faithful  to  the  govern- 
ment. They  suggested  that  all  the  free  men  of  color  in  New 
Orleans  be  enlisted.  The  governor  acquiesced  and  transmitted 
the  suggestion  to  Jackson,  who  accepted  the  idea  with  en- 
thusiasm.    "Our  country,"  he  said,   "has  been  invaded  and 


•Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  Appendix,  number  i6. 

The  French  newspaper  criticized  it.  and  Gayarre  supports  the  criticism,    Louisiana,  IV.,  354. 


156  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

threatened  with  destruction.  She  wants  soldiers  to  fight  her 
battles.  The  free  men  of  color  in  your  city  are  inured  to  the 
Southern  climate  and  would  make  excellent  soldiers.  They 
will  not  remain  quiet  spectators  of  the  interesting  contest. 
They  must  be  either  for,  or  against,  us.  Distrust  them  and  you 
make  them  your  enemies,  place  confidence  in  them,  and  you 
engage  them  by  every  dear  and  honorable  tie  to  the  interest 
of  the  country,  who  extends  to  them  equal  rights  and  privileges 
with  white  men.  I  enclose  3^ou  a  copy  of  my  address  to  them 
for  publication  and  wish  an  experiment  made  for  raising  a 
regiment  of  them.'" 

The  proclamation  was  expressed  in  the  warmest  terms. 
"Through  a  mistaken  policy,"  it  ran,  "you  have  heretofore 
been  deprived  of  a  participation  in  the  glorious  struggle  for 
national  rights  in  v/hich  your  country  is  engaged.  This  no  longer 
shall  exist.  As  sons  of  freedom  you  are  now  called  upon  to 
defend  your  most  inestimable  blessing.  As  Americans,  your 
country  looks  with  confidence  to  her  adopted  children,  for  a 
valorous  support,  as  a  faithful  return  for  the  advantages  en- 
joyed under  her  mild  and  equitable  government.  As  fathers, 
husbands,  and  brothers,  you  are  summoned  to  rally  round  the 
standard  of  the  eagle,  to  defend  all  which  is  dear  in  existence." 
To  such  as  should  volunteer  were  offered  the  regular  bounties 
—  i6o  acres  of  land  and  $124  in  cash  —  and  the  regular  pay, 
rations,  and  clothing  of  a  soldier.  They  were  to  be  commanded 
by  white  commissioned,  and  colored  non-commissioned,  ofiicers.' 

This  liberal  attitude  toward  the  Negroes  brought  out  the 
opposition  of  those  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  who  believed  that 
repression  rather  than  confidence  was  the  best  policy  to  be  pur- 
sued with  regard  to  these  people.  They  protested  against  put- 
ting arms  into  their  hands,  saying  that  it  would  render  them 

iSee  Jackson  to  Claiborne,  September  ai,  1814,  Jackson  Mss.    Also  Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  335- 
*Latour.  Historical  Memoir,  Appendix,  number  17. 


THE  DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  157 

insubordinate  in  times  of  peace  and  give  them  an  undesirable 
acquaintance  with  the  art  of  war,  and  they  declared  that  the 
free  Negroes  were  especially  disloyal.  All  these  objections 
were  laid  before  Jackson,  but  he  did  not  relent/  The  battaHon 
under  Lacoste  was  enlarged  and  drilled,  and  when  Jackson 
arrived  on  December  ist,  it  paraded  before  him  by  the  side  of 
the  uniformed  companies  of  the  city  and  won  his  special  com- 
mendation/ Later  it  served  with  credit  in  the  operations  against 
the  British.  Another  battalion  was  organized  from  the  Santo 
Domingo  Negroes,  of  whom  a  large  number  were  in  the  city 
as  refugees  from  the  British.  It  numbered  210  men  and  was 
mustered  into  service  a  few  days  before  the  landing  of  the  enemy.' 
Under  Major  Daquin  it  did  excellent  service  in  the  night  battle 
of  December  23d,  and  on  Jackson's  lines. 

The  assistant  district  paymaster  was  one  of  those  who  did 
not  approve  of  enlisting  Negro  and  Indian  troops,  and  he  ques- 
tioned Jackson's  authority  to  have  them  in  the  service.  What 
else  he  said  does  not  appear;  but  he  received  a  letter  from 
Jackson  which  reduced  him  to  submission  in  short  order.  It 
ran: 

Be  pleased  to  keep  to  yourself  your  Opinions  upon  the  policy 
of  making  payments  to  particular  Corps.  It  is  enough  for 
you  to  receive  my  order  for  the  payment  of  the  troops  with 
the  necessary  muster  rolls  without  inquiring  whether  the  troops 
are  white,  Black,  or  Tea.  You  are  not  to  know  whether  I 
have  received  authority  from  the  War  Department  to  employ 
any  particular  description  of  men,  and  will,  upon  the  receipt 
of  this  make  payment  of  the  Choctaws  upon  the  muster  rolls 
of   Major   Blue.* 

Another  source  of  friction  between  Jackson  and  the  Louisi- 


>Claiborne  to  Jackson,  October  17  and  24;  Jackson  to  Claiborne,  October  21   1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
«Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  Appendix,  number  20. 
'Jackson  to  Claiborne,  December  18,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
'Jackson  to  W.  Allen,  December  23,  1814.  Jackson  Mss 


158  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

anians  came  from  attempts  to  export  provisions  from  the  city 
to  Pensacola,  where  prices  rose  with  the  approach  of  the  British. 
As  soon  as  Jackson  knew  that  the  enemy  was  bound  for  that 
place  he  gave  strict  orders  that  no  vessels  laden  with  food  be 
allowed  to  pass  through  the  lakes.  Nevertheless,  there  were 
merchants  in  New  Orleans  who,  it  was  reported,  evaded  the 
law  daily,  and  Jackson,  hearing  of  it,  directed  that  the  ship- 
owners and  captains  concerned  be  arrested  and  tried  by  mili- 
tary law.  He  spoke  with  a  feeling  of  chagrin,  and  his  orders 
were  executed  with  precision.  The  only  relaxation  he  would 
make  was  that  vessels  bound  for  Mobile  might  sail  if  they  gave 
bond  in  approved  security  that  their  cargoes  should  be  landed 
in  that  place.  So  effective  was  the  embargo  that  Pensacola 
in  December,  appealed  to  him  in  the  name  of  humanity  to 
let  enough  rice,  flour,  and  other  food  be  sent  thither  to  keep 
the  inhabitants  from  starvation.'  The  incident  served  to  in- 
crease Jackson's  distrust  of  the  people  of  New  Orleans  and  con- 
tributed to  the  friction  which  later  arose  between  civil  and 
military  authorities. 

Another  source  of  anxiety  came  from  the  chaotic  political 
conditions.  Claiborne,  the  governor,  was  honest,  patriotic, 
and  industrious,  but  he  lacked  tact  and  the  power  to  make  him- 
self obeyed.  He  had,  also,  many  enemies  who  opposed  him  in 
the  press  and  defeated  his  recommendations  when  they  could, 
in  the  legislature.  Late  in  1813,  the  United  States  government 
withdrew  one  regiment  of  the  scant  force  at  New  Orleans,  and 
Floumoy  asked  the  governor  to  call  out  1,000  miHtia  for  six 
months  to  fill  their  places,  chiefly  in  the  garrisons  around  New 
Orleans.  Claiborne  complied,  sending  out  his  call  on  Decem- 
ber 25th.  Four  hundred  men  from  the  counties  adjacent  to 
Baton  Rouge  and  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state,  mostly  of 


'Jackson  to  Claiborne,  August  30;  to  McRea,  October  14;  to  Patterson,  October  14,   McRea  to  Jackson 
September  3,  0.    22,  October  12,  17,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


THE  DEFENSES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  159 

Anglo-American  stock,  came  down  to  the  city  for  duty.  But 
the  inhabitants  of  New  Orleans  and  of  the  river  banks  south  of 
Baton  Rouge  refused  to  respond.  They  alleged  that  there  was 
no  need  of  their  services;  and  it  was,  in  fact,  not  usual  to  call  the 
militia  out  for  garrison  duty  unless  there  was  grave  imminent 
danger.  Claiborne  referred  the  matter  to  the  legislature,  but  his 
opponents  there  were  able  to  defeat  resolutions  in  support  of  his 
position.  The  up-country  militia  oflfered  their  services  to  force 
their  brethren  of  the  city  to  perform  their  duty,  but  the  governor 
was  too  wise  to  precipitate  a  civil  war  and  declined  the 
offer.  The  spring  and  summer  of  18 14  were  passed  in 
apathy,  and  the  governor  was  deeply  discouraged.  But 
his  chagrin  was  not  entirely  justified.  When  it  be- 
came evident  that  there  was  real  danger  from  an  enemy, 
it  was  no  longer  possible  for  his  opponents  to  convince 
the  people  that  they  need  not  take  up  arms.  They  did  not 
now  oppose  a  call  for  the  militia,  but  were  satisfied  to  tie  the 
hands  of  the  executive  in  other  ways.  They  supported  a 
spirit  of  dissatisfaction  which  left  room  to  doubt  the  loyalty 
of  the  state,  although  it  is  not  likely  that  the  suspicion  was  well 
founded.  One  result  was  the  appointment  of  a  legislative 
committee  on  the  war  which,  with  the  citizen  committee,  was  a 
source  of  confusion.  Another  was  to  prolong  the  session  of 
the  censorious  assembly  which  was  called  to  secure  funds  for 
defense  and  not  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  conduct  of  the 
war. 

Thus  Louisiana,  against  which  more  than  10,000  troops 
were  about  to  be  hurled,  passed  through  the  months  of  August, 
September,  and  November,  slowly  calling  out  its  militia,  re- 
pairing its  fortifications,  and  putting  its  house  in  order  for 
the  shock  of  battle.  The  well-intentioned  Claiborne  could  not 
bring  unity  to  its  discordant  population;  but  riding  during 
these  last  days  of  the  dull  autumn  along  the  road  from  Mobile 


i6o  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

to  New  Orleans  was  a  horseman  who  had  both  the  will  and 
the  power  to  silence  opposition  and  to  concentrate  the  resources 
of  the  place  in  the  single  process  of  saving  it  from  the  hands  of 
the  invader. 


CHAPTER  XI 

A  CHRISTMAS  "  FANDANGO '* 

In  1814,  Admiral  Cochrane  commanded  the  British  fleet  in 
American  waters,  and  his  chief  duty  was  to  supervise  the  blockade. 
In  the  spring,  he  was  ordered  to  make  observations  along  the 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  with  a  view  to  operations  in  Louisi- 
ana. In  the  summer  he  reported  that  3,000  men  with  the  co- 
operation of  the  Indians  and  discontented  natives,  could  take 
Mobile  and  New  Orleans.  His  language  indicates  that  he  had 
in  mind  an  expedition  through  Mobile,  which  was  also  Jackson's 
conception  of  the  military  problem  from  the  invader's  stand- 
point. The  English  ministry  were  not  so  sanguine  as  Cochrane. 
In  the  expedition  which  they  were  about  to  send  forth  they 
engaged  three  times  the  troops  suggested  by  the  admiral  and 
adequate  naval  protection.  The  army  was  drawn  from  several 
quarters.  Ross's  force  which  was  operating  against  Washington 
and  Baltimore  made  a  part,  and  as  a  reward  for  his  success  in 
that  service  Ross  was  given  command  of  the  v/hole  movement. 
Other  troops  were  sent  from  Ireland  and  France,  and  some  black 
regiments  from  the  West  Indies  because  they  were  believed  to 
be  adapted  to  the  climate  and  to  other  conditions  in  Louisiana. 
The  death  of  Ross  before  Baltimore  made  no  change  in  the  plans, 
except  that  the  chief  command  was  assigned  to  Lieut.- 
Gen.  Sir  Edward  Pakenham,  a  man  of  recognized  ability 
and  brother-in-law  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  He  was  sent 
out  in  haste  to  overtake  the  expedition  before  it  came  to  its 
destination,  but  in  that  he  was  not  successful.  He  arrived  on 
the  shores  of  Louisiana,  December  25th,    after  the   advanced 

161 


i62  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

stages  of  the  attack  were  passed.  Under  him  served  Major- 
Generals  Gibbs,  Keane,  and  Lambert,  all  men  of  tried  courage 
and  experience,  Keane  being  in  command  till  the  coming  of 
Pakenham." 

The  leader  was  instructed  to  proceed  from  Jamaica,  the 
point  of  rendezvous,  on  November  20th,  directly  to  New  Or- 
leans or  indirectly  through  Mobile,  as  he  saw  fit.  He  was 
informed  that  the  object  of  the  expedition  was  to  command  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  by  holding  it  to  be  in  a  position 
"to  exact  its  cession  as  a  price  of  peace."  He  was  instructed 
to  conciliate  the  native  Louisianians,  to  assist  them  with  arms 
and  provisions,  to  organize  them  into  military  bodies,  and  to 
encourage  them  to  commit  themselves  by  an  overt  act  against 
the  United  States.  He  was  not  to  allow  them  to  think  that  they 
would  become  permanent  subjects  of  England,  or  an  independent 
state;  but  to  lead  them  to  believe  that  they  would  return  to 
the  Spanish  allegiance.  He  was  also  "by  no  means  to  excite 
the  black  population  to  rise  against  their  masters";  since  the 
whole  Creole  element,  who  were  slaveholding  in  interests,  would 
be  repelled  if  they  believed  that  an  insurrection  of  slaves  was 
planned.* 

Jackson's  earliest  intimation  of  this  danger  was  received 
on  August  27th,  in  Mobile,  and  was  contained  in  letters  from 
Pensacola  announcing  the  arrival  of  Colonel  Nicholls  at  that 
place.  The  boasts,  proclamations,  and  other  proceedings  of 
this  faithful  courier  showed  that  something  serious  was  planned 
by  his  superiors,  but  all  evidence  pointed  to  Mobile  as  the  point 
of  initial  attack.  This  coincided  with  Jackson's  view.  "A  real 
military  man,"  he  said,  "with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  geography 
of  that  and  this  country  [the  surroundings  of  Mobile  and  New 
Orleans]  would  first   possess  himself   of    that  point,  draw  to 


'Gibbs  arrived  with  Pakenbam. 

•Adams,  History  oj  United  States,  VIII.,  315. 


A  CHRISTMAS  "FANDANGO"  163 

his  standard  the  Indians,  advance  by  way  of  Fort  Stephens, 
and  march  direct  to  the  Walnut  Hills,  and  by  a  strong  establish- 
ment there  and  being  able  to  forage  on  the  country,  he  could 
support  himself,  cut  off  all  supplies  from  above,  and  make  this 
country  [Louisiana]  an  easy  conquest.'"  This  opinion,  given 
February  18,  181 5,  before  controversy  arose  on  the  point,  ex- 
presses Jackson's  conception  of  the  military  situation  from  the 
British  standpoint.  It  was  also  his  opinion  on  December  10, 
1 8 14,  when  the  British  were  concentrating  off  Cat  Island,  and 
he  avowed  it  in  a  letter  to  the  secretary  of  war.*  Fort  Stephens 
was  on  the  lower  Tombigbee,  the  Walnut  Hills  were  the  site 
of  the  present  city  of  Vicksburg,  and  the  intervening  country 
was  sparsely  settled.  The  difficulty  of  supporting  a  force  of 
several  thousand  men  through  this  region  was  much  underrated 
by  Jackson. 

The  rumors  from  Pensacola.  reached  Washington  in  due  time 
and  Monroe,  secretary  of  war,  forwarded  them  to  Mobile  with 
confirmatory  information  from  other  sources.  Ten  years  later 
Jackson's  political  opponents  charged  that  he  loitered  too  long 
in  Mobile,  and  that  it  was  only  Monroe's  insistency  that  finally 
drove  him  out,  just  in  time  to  save  New  Orleans.  The  truth 
is,  Jackson  took  his  own  time  at  Mobile  and  left  it  entirely  of 
his  own  volition.  Moreover,  all  his  advice  from  the  secretary 
up  to  October  30th,  was  to  the  effect  that  the  enemy  would 
attack  through  that  place.  The  remoteness  of  his  situation  and 
the  confusion  then  existing  in  the  war  department  left  him 
largely  to  his  own  resources,  and  his  is  the  credit  or  blame  for 
the  results. 

It  was  late  in  September  when  the  government  became  con- 
vinced that  Louisiana  was  in  danger.  At  once  Monroe  sent  out 
calls  for  miHtia  to  the  governors  of  Kentucky,  Georgia,  and 


'Jackson  to  Monroe,  February  i8,  1815,  Jackson  Mss. 
^lacksoo  tn  Mtcr^tazy  oi  ww,  December  10,  1814.  Jackson  2>Iss. 


i64  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDl^EW  JACKSON 

Tennessee.  From  the  first  and  second  he  required  2,500  men 
respectively,  and  from  the  third  5,000  in  addition  to  the  2,500 
which  were  called  out  in  the  preceding  July  for  garrisons  in  the 
Creek  country.  Jackson  w^as  informed  of  these  requisitions 
and  wrote  letters  seconding  them.' 

The  response  was  generous.  Kentucky,  although  she  had 
contributed  liberally  to  the  war  in  the  Northwest,  sent  2,228 
men  under  General  Adair.'  Georgia  sent  an  equal  number 
under  General  Mcintosh.  Tennessee  sent  2,800  mounted  men 
under  General  Coffee,  something  less  than  two  thousand  infantry 
from  the  eastern  counties  under  General  Taylor,  and  as  many 
more  from  the  west  —  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  —  under  General 
Carroll.  Mississippi  Territory  furnished  a  battalion  under 
Major  Kinds  150  e  trong,  and  the  Louisiana  mihtia,  including 
the  volunteer  organizations  in  New  Orleans,  furnished  nearly 
three  thousand.'  Jackson's  total  force  was  a  little  more  than 
fourteen  thousand  militia  and  2,378  regulars.  Of  these  he  left 
all  the  Georgia  and  East  Tennessee  militia  with  nearly  two 
thousand  regulars  and  riflemen  to  protect  Mobile  and  its 
surroundings.  The  remainder,  about  eleven  thousand  five 
hundred,  he  ordered  to  concentrate  at  New  Orleans;  and  on 
November  2 2d,  with  a  small  escort,  he  started  for  that  city. 
He  rode  deliberately,  in  order  to  inspect  the  approaches  to  the 
city.  His  judgment  was  that  it  was  impossible  for  a  hostile  army 
to  move  from  Mobile  to  New  Orleans  by  the  direct  land  route. 

^Monroe  to  Jackson,  September  27,  and  October  10,  1814;  Monroe  to  Governor  Blount,  September  25, 
1814;  Jackson  Mss. 

'Smith,  Battle  0/  New  Orleans  (Filson  Club  Publishers),  179-202,  where  the  muster  rolls  are  given. 

'In  the  summer  of  1814,  the  secretary  of  war  calbd  for  one  thousand  detached  Louisiana  mihtia  to  serve 
sis  months.  November  20,  Claiborne  reported  that  they  were  raised  and  with  others  brought  the  total  num- 
ber of  Louisianians  in  the  field  up  to  twelve  hundred:  Claiborne  to  Jackson,  November  5  and  20,  i?i4. 
Jackson  Mss.  The  San  Domingo  Negroes,  Baratarians,  and  others  mustered  in  before  December  23.  brought 
the  number  to  at  Last  sixteen  hundred.  When  the  British  arrived  the  whole  body  of  the  state's  militia  was 
called  out  and  by  the  end  of  December  they  were  arriving  in  force.  From  the  thirtieth  until  the  fourth  of  the 
next  month,  the  total  accessions  were  twelve  hundred,  and  many  others  came  after  the  battle  of  the  eighth. 
See  Col.  Rob3rt  Young  to  Jacksca,  January  i,  1815;  Claiborne  to  Jackson,  January  7, 1815,  Jackson  Ms9. 
Gayarre,  LoMJitana,  IV.,4S0,  4s8;  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  304.  Most  of  the  Louisiana  militia  were  with- 
out anus. 


A  CHRISTMAS  "FANDANGO";  165 

When  he  left  Mobile  he  still  entertained  the  impression 
that  it  would  be  attacked.  Three  of  his  five  regiments  of  regu- 
lars were  ordered  to  garrison  it,  and  the  horse,  under  Coffee 
and  Hinds,  were  stationed  in  such  positions  that  they  could  easily 
be  called  back  if  needed.  The  first  of  these  officers  was  sent 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Baton  Rouge,  forage  being  scarce  in 
New  Orleans;  the  second,  commanding  the  Mississippi  dragoons, 
except  the  company  which  was  with  Blue,  was  placed  midway 
between  the  two  cities  so  that  he  might  be  called  to  either  at 
a    moment's    notice. 

Cooperating  with  the  army  was  a  small  naval  force  under 
Master-Commander  Daniel  Todd  Patterson,  a  man  of  energy 
and  good  judgment.*  It  consisted  of  six  of  the  gunboats  which 
marked  President  Jefferson's  policy  of  naval  defense,  and  a 
number  of  smaller  vessels.  One  of  the  gunboats  was  sent  to 
Fort  St.  Philip,  on  the  Mississippi,'  and  the  others,  five  in  num- 
ber, were  on  Lake  Borgne,  to  protect  the  city  from  an  approach 
from  that  quarter  and  to  keep  open  the  inland  water  communi- 
cations with  Mobile.  The  gunboats  were  small.  The  five 
on  Lake  Borgne  carried  a  total  of  twenty-three  guns  and 
182  men.  Besides  these  there  were  two  vessels-  -a  schooner, 
the  Carolina,  and  a  ship,  the  Louisiana  —  in  the  river  before 
New  Orleans.  At  Tchifonte,  on  Lake  Pontchartrain,  was  an 
uncompleted  flat-bottom  frigate  built  to  carry  forty-two  guns." 
Work  on  it  was  stopped  some  months  earlier,  probably  by  the 
advice  of  Flournoy;  and  although  both  Jackson  and  Patterson 
urged  that  it  be  resumed,  nothing  was  done  in  that  direc- 
tion. The  vessel  was  now  worse  than  useless;  for  it  was  neces- 
sary to   send   the   ^tna,  a  brig  much  needed  elsewhere,  to 

>The  historians  generally,  even  Latour,  who  was  a  military  man  and  wrote  in  1816,  speak  of  Patterson  as 
"commodore";  but  his  rank  was  master-commander,  one  grade  lower  than  a  naval  captain.  The  rank 
of  commodore  was  not  created  in  America  until  1862  and  is  a  grade  higher  than  that  of  captain.  Jackson 
and  other  contemporaries  call  him  "commodore." 

•Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  74. 

*Lfttour  says  forty-two;  Reid  and  Eaton  forty-four.    Latour  seems  more  reliable  under  the  circumstances. 


1 66  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

Tchif onte  to  protect  the  frigate,  which  was  nearly  ready  for  its 
armament. 

It  was  in  the  morning  of  December  ist,  that  Jackson  entered 
New  Orleans,  passing  down  the  streets  to  the  residence  of  a 
rich  merchant  where  the  governor,  Master-Commander  Patter- 
son, and  others  waited  to  welcome  him.  The  people  of  the 
city  had  heard  much  of  his  military  achievements.  To  most 
of  them  a  great  general  was  distinguished  in  appearance,  after 
the  fashion  of  the  recent  French  and  Spanish  officials.  They 
were  surprised  and  somewhat  disappointed  when  there  appeared 
a  tall  and  emaciated  figure,  showing  signs  of  recent  severe 
illness,  with  a  clean  shaven  and  sallow  face,  and  sandy  hair 
just  beginning  to  gray  under  his  forty-seven  years.  He  was 
clothed  in  a  well-worn  leather  cap,  a  short  Spanish  cloak  of  old 
blue  cloth,  and  great  unpolished  boots  whose  vast  tops  swayed 
uneasily  around  his  bony  knees.  But  his  eyes  were  cool  and 
penetrating,  his  mouth  was  always  firm  and  in  repose  gentle, 
and  his  carriage  was  grave,  dignified,  and  suggestive  of  mastery 
of  self  and  of  others.  When  they  first  saw  him  the  people 
were  disappointed.  He  seemed  only  another  of  the  frontier  flat- 
boatmen,  of  whose  uncouthness  they  knew  rather  too  much. 
But  when  they  saw  him  and  heard  him  speak  their  disappoint- 
ment became  enthusiasm.  All  accounts  agree  that  he  won  the 
sympathy  of  the  people  of  New  Orleans  on  that  first  day  of 
his  visit.  After  the  well-intentioned  governor  made  his  prolix 
speech  of  welcome,  and  after  the  general  delivered  his  reply 
and  heard  it  translated  by  Edward  Livingston  into  French 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Creoles  he  turned  to  business.  First  he 
reviewed  the  city  militia  composed  of  the  uniformed  com- 
panies under  Major  Plauche  and  the  battalions  of  free  men  of 
color  under  Majors  Lacoste  and  Daquin,  complimenting  both 
on  their  soldierly  appearance.  Then  he  went  to  dinner  with 
Livingston,  where  he  met  a  company  of  fashionable  ladies  and 


A  CHRISTMAS  "  FANDANGO  "  167 

charmed  them  by  his  grave  deference  and  natural  courtesy. 
Rising  from  the  table,  he  hurried  off  to  meet  his  chief  engineers 
and  with  them  went  carefully  and  exhaustively  over  the  plans 
of  the  defenses.  Two  days  later  he  began  a  tour  of  inspection, 
going  first  down  the  river  as  far  as  Fort  St.  Philip,  where  it  was 
planned  to  give  the  enemy  the  initial  check  on  this  line  of  ap- 
proach. He  ordered  two  auxiliary  batteries  to  be  constructed 
to  strengthen  it  and  rode  back  to  the  city  six  days  after  he 
set  out  examining  every  mile  of  the  way  carefully.  At  once 
he  departed  for  a  similar  inspection  of  the  lake  shore.  At  Chef 
Menteur,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Borgne,  he  ordered  a  new  battery 
to  be  placed  as  additional  protection  to  the  Gentilly  road.  His 
quick  and  spirited  manner  of  taking  up  the  business  before  him 
made  an  excellent  impression  on  the  city,  which  for  months 
had  suffered  from  the  confusion  and  the  supineness  of  the  au- 
thorities. It  was  not  that  he  brought  more  technical  skill  to 
the  situation — his  orders  were  given  by  the  advice  of  engineers, 
who  were  on  the  spot  before  his  arrival.  It  was  his  mastery 
of  the  situation,  through  a  forceful  speech  and  a  compelling 
win,  which  gave  the  people  confidence  and  made  them  willing 
to  obey  his  commands. 

From  this  inspection,  he  concluded  that  the  enemy  would 
come  by  the  river,  and  he  believed  that  when  the  defenses 
there  were  strengthened  as  he  ordered  they  would  be  unas- 
sailable. A  few  days  after  his  arrival  on  the  Mississippi  the 
British  fleet  began  to  come  into  Pensacola  Bay,  and  information 
was  promptly  sent  to  New  Orleans.  When  he  returned  to  the 
city  from  his  first  trip  of  inspection  he  learned  that  their 
ships  were  beginning  to  anchor  off  Cat  and  Ship  Islands,  at 
the  entrance  of  Lake  Borgne.  He  considered  this  but  a 
ruse  to  turn  his  attention  from  the  river,  and  went  on 
with  his  inspection  of  works:  nor  had  he  yet  given  up  his 
opinion  that  the  enemy  aimed  at  Mobile  and  by  a  movement 


i68  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

into  the  interior  would  seize  the  Mississippi  and  isolate  New 
Orleans/ 

Writing  to  Coffee  at  his  ease  on  December  nth,  he  said: 
"Your  position  is  a  favorable  one  to  cover  Amite,  and  prevent 
the  enemy  from  advancing  through  Lake  Maurapa,  and  up  the 
Manshock  [the  Manchac  pass].  The  vessels  of  the  enemy  has 
made  their  appearance  on  the  coast  near  Ship  and  Cat  Islands, 
and  the  Contractors  Vessels  on  their  voyage  to  Mobile  has  re- 
turned. I  expect  this  is  a  faint,  to  draw  my  attention  to  that 
point  when  they  mxcan  to  strike  at  another.  However  I  will 
look  at  them  there  and  provide  for  their  reception  elsewhere." 
And  then  forgetting  for  a  moment  the  scenes  around  him  and 
turning  in  his  mind  back  to  Tennessee,  he  says:  No  news  from 
home  "since  I  saw  you  except  I  see  in  the  Nashville  Gazette 
that  ^Packolett  has  beat  the  noted  horse  Doublehead  with  great 
ease^^  Then  again  to  mihtary  matters:  "Keep  your  brigade 
ready  for  service  at  a  moment's  notice;  We  may,  or  we  may 
not,  have  a  fandango  with  Lord  Hill,  in  the  Christmas  hoUdays. 
If  so  you  and  your  Brave  followers  must  participate  in  the 
frolic.'" 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  thirteenth,'  while  he  was  still  in- 
specting on  the  lakes,  news  came  to  the  city  that  the  enemy's 
vessels  at  Cat  Island  were  greatly  augmented,  that  they  were 
supplied  with  gun  barges  suitable  for  operations  on  the  lakes, 
and  that  it  was  no  longer  to  be  doubted  that  they  were  about 
to  land  from  their  present  anchorage.  On  the  thirteenth, 
Jackson  was  within  easy  communication  with  the  city  and  must 
have  received  Patterson's  news  by  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth; 
yet  he  took  no  steps  that  day  to  caU  down  his  forces  from  the 

ijac'^son  to  secretary  of  war,  December  lo,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 

ajackson  to  Coffee,  December  11, 1S14,  Jackson  Mss.  "Pacolet"  belonged  to  Jackson,  who  had  ordered 
that  he  should  not  be  raced  during  the  war.  See  James  Jackson  to  Jackson,  Nashville,  November  37.  1814, 
Jackson  Mss.  The  British  ministry  first  intended  to  give  the  command  of  the  expedition  to  General  Lord 
Hill. 

3Latour,  Eistoricat  Memoir,  SS- 


A  CHRISTMAS  "FANDANGO"  169 

upper  country.  He  seemingly  remained  convinced  that  the 
assemblage  ofif  Cat  Island  was  a  ruse,  and  if  this  surmise  be 
true  he  was  utterly  at  sea  in  regard  to  the  situation,  which  was, 
in  fact,  very  grave.  Within  the  city  were  no  more  than  1,500 
armed  men  to  be  thrown  against  a  landing  party  from  the  fleet, 
and  the  only  means  of  checking  a  landing  was  the  five  gunboats 
on  Lake  Borgne. 

The  situation  hardly  assumed  this  form  when  even  the  hope 
from  the  gunboats  was  destroyed.  These  vessels  were  ordered 
to  avoid  a  struggle  on  the  lake  and  meet  the  enemy  at  the  south- 
ern extremity  of  the  Rigolets;  but  on  the  thirteenth,  while 
retreating  from  too  venturesome  an  approach  to  his  fleet,  they 
found  themselves  pursued  by  a  large  number  of  his  barges. 
They  sought  to  reach  the  designated  spot,  but  becoming  be- 
calmed on  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  were  forced  to  anchor 
in  line  of  battle  and  receive  the  attack  of  the  enemy.  Against 
them  were  brought  forty-three  barges  each  carrying  a  cannon, 
and  three  smaller  boats  without  such  armament,  all  manned 
by  1,200  men.  Unable  to  maneuver  and  feeling  themselves 
doomed  to  capture,  the  Americans  fought  as  well  as  they  could 
until  their  commander  was  badly  wounded  and  struck  his  flag. 
They  lost  forty-five,  killed  and  wounded;  and  the  British, 
ninety-five.'  The  victors  now  had  all  the  lake  at  their  disposal. 
They  seized  the  Isle  aux  Pois,  east  of  the  Rigolets,  landed  an 
advanced  division  on  it,  and  explored  the  western  shore  of  the 
lake  for  the  best  place  to  reach  the  environs  of  New  Orleans. 

The  gunboats  were  taken  at  noon  on  the  fourteenth,  and  it 
was  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  when  the  news  reached  New 
Orleans,  forty  miles  away.  Jackson  hastened  from  Chef  Men- 
teur  to  the  city.  He  was  at  last  fully  conscious  of  his  danger, 
and  from  that  moment  he  was  all  activity.     A  letter  was  hur- 

*The  report  of  the  American  commander  is  in  Latour,  Historical  Mtnuir,  Appendix,  number  19;  that  of  the 
British  commander  if  is  James,  Military  Occurrences,  II,  533. 


I70  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

riedly  sent  to  Coffee,  twenty  miles  north  of  Baton  Rouge,  order- 
ing him  to  march  day  and  night  till  he  reached  headquarters 
and  charging  him  to  send  messengers  with  like  orders  to  Carroll 
and  Thomas  higher  up  the  river  and  to  Hinds  at  Woodville, 
Mississippi.  Coffee  heard  the  news  gladly.  On  the  seventeenth 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  wrote  that  he  would  march 
at  sunrise  and  would  be  in  New  Orleans  in  four  days  if  all  went 
well.  Fie  took  1,250  of  his  men  with  him,  all  who  were  fit  for 
duty,  and  in  the  early  morning  of  the  twentieth  he  arrived 
in  New  Orleans  with  800  of  them,  leaving  the  others  to  follow 
as  fast  as  they  could,  having  covered  135  miles  in  a  few  hours 
more  than  three  days.'  Carroll  arrived  on  December  21st, 
and  about  the  same  time  came  Hinds  with  100  dragoons. 

Jackson's  problem  was  nov/  to  determine  by  which  of  the 
approaches  from  the  lake  the  British  would  attempt  to  land. 
He  concluded  they  would  not  try  to  pass  Petites  Coquilles  with 
small  boats,  and  this  ehminated  the  idea  of  an  approach  by 
Lake  Pontchartrain.  He  made  another  inspection  of  the  shores 
of  Lake  Borgne  and  determined  that  they  must  come  by  Bayou 
Sauvage  and  Chef  Menteur.  This  line  of  communication  begins 
at  the  northern  shore  of  the  lake  about  fifteen  miles  from  the 
Isle  aux  Pois  and  nine  from  the  Rigolets.  It  leads  through  a 
marsh  for  ten  miles,  when  the  surrounding  land  becomes  firm 
and  opens  into  a  plain  around  the  village  of  Gentilly,  five 
miles  west  of  which  was  the  city.  It  was  on  this  elevated  ground 
that  Jackson  expected  to  fight  the  battle.     He  sent  thither  all 

iQf  the  two  letters  ordering  Coffee  down,  one  was  from  Robert  Butler,  adjutant-general,  and  was  probably 
written  on  the  fourteenth,  although  dated  the  fifteenth,  since  it  says  the  British  fleet  appeared  off  Cat  Island 
in  force  on  the  preceding  evening.  It  is  improbable,  also,  that  a  letter  dispatched  on  the  fifteenth  reachtd 
Coffee,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  away,  by  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth  when,  as  we  know,  Coffee  knc-.7 
of  Jackson's  summons.  (Cf .  John  Hynes  to  Coffee,  December  i6, 1814,  Jackson  Mss.)  The  other  letter 
was  written  by  T.  L.  Butler,  Jackson's  aide,  after  the  gxmboats  were  known  to  be  taken.  Coffee  called  in 
his  troopers  and  marched  at  dawn  on  the  seventeenth.  His  command  was  much  depleted  by  sickness  and 
fatigue.  His  own  letters  to  Jackson  show  that  the  story  repeated  by  Reid  and  Eaton  and  by  Jackson  himself, 
that  he  marched  to  New  Orleans  in  two  days  is  erroneous.  Cf.  Coffee  to  Jackson,  December  13,  17;  Coffee 
to  his  contractors,  December  16,  1814;  and  Jackson  to  Monroe,  February  17.  1S15;  Jackson  Mss,  and  Reid 
and  Eaton,  Lilf.  0]  Jackson,  20, 


A  CHRISTMAS  "FANDANGO"  171 

the  troops  he  could  spare,  ordered  additional  redoubts  and 
other  works,  and  placed  at  the  extremity  of  the  line  the  bat- 
talion of  free  Negroes  under  Major  Lacoste.  Even  after  the 
foe  landed  elsewhere,  he  believed  that  they  were  attempting 
a  ruse  in  order  to  divert  his  strength  from  Chef  Menteur.  He 
was  as  persistent  in  this  notion  as  formerly  in  the  belief  that 
the  assembling  at  Cat  Island  was  a  trick  to  deceive  him;  and 
he  did  not  relinquish  it  till  he  saw  three  quarters  of  the  British 
army  actually  before  him  on  the  Villere  and  adjacent  plantations. 

One  must  approve  every  feature  of  the  campaign  of  the 
British  except  their  rash  frontal  attack  on  Jackson's  lines  on 
January  8th.  Particularly  skilful  Vv^as  their  landing.  Chef 
Menteur  was  too  obvious:  ten  miles  west  of  it  was  the  mouth 
of  Bayou  Bien venue,  which  the  British  writers  call  Catalin. 
Through  somebody's  neglect  it  was  not  obstructed  by  fallen 
timber,  although  Jackson  early  gave  strict  orders  to  that  end 
for  all  bayous  opening  on  the  lakes.  In  this  region  the  country 
between  the  river  and  the  lake  is  of  three  kinds,  high  ground 
which  borders  the  river  and  is  a  mile  or  less  in  width,  cypress 
swamp  lying  east  of  that  about  three  miles  wide,  and  still  east- 
ward a  belt  of  trembling  marsh  called  locally  "prairies."  The 
first  of  these  belts  is  cultivated,  and  through  it  pass  drainage 
canals  which  empty  into  the  sinuous  water  courses  in  the  swamps, 
which  collecting  into  larger  main  channels  make  into  the  bayous. 
From  the  mouth  of  Bayou  Bien  venue  one  may  pass  by  a  large 
tributary  to  the  entrance  of  a  canal  which  drains  the  Villere 
plantation,  lying  on  the  river  about  nine  miles  from  the  city. 
The  Bayou  Bienvenue,  therefore,  offered  a  safe  communication 
with  the  high  ground  adjoining  the  river  at  a  point  near  New 
Orleans.  Villere's  with  the  adjacent  plantations  offered  a 
wider  space  of  soHd  ground  than  that  which  bordered  the  Chef 
Menteur  road.    This  space  was  to  be  the  field  of  the  battle. 

Near  the  mouth  of  Bayou  Bienvenue  was  a  village  of  twelve 


172  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

huts  occupied  by  Spanish  and  Portuguese  fishermen.  These 
people  proved  traitors  and  came  to  an  understanding  with 
the  British  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  off  Ship  Island. 
On  December  20th,  they  brought  two  English  officers  to  their 
village,  carried  them  up  the  bayou  and  canal  till  they  were  able 
to  take  a  drink  of  water  from  the  Mississippi.  Their  report 
pleased  their  superiors  and  no  time  was  lost  in  hurrying  on  the 
advance. 

On  the  twenty-first  the  Americans  sent  a  picket  of  twelve 
men  in  one  boat  to  the  Spanish  village.  They  found  most  of 
the  inhabitants  absent,  spent  that  day  and  the  next  in  watching 
the  waters  of  the  lake  for  signs  of  the  enemy,  and  on  the  night 
of  the  twenty-second  slept  in  fancied  security  with  only  one 
sentinel  posted.  Some  time  after  midnight  he  heard  a  noise 
and  awakened  his  comrades.  In  the  dim  moonlight  they 
could  make  out  five  barges  full  of  armed  men,  coming  up  the 
bayou.  Not  daring  to  fire  on  so  many  men  they  hid  behind 
a  house  till  the  barges  passed.  Then  they  tried  to  get  away 
in  their  boat  by  way  of  the  lake  in  order  to  give  information 
to  the  city.  In  their  haste  they  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
intruders  and  all  except  one  were  seized.  He  after  three  days' 
wandering  through  the  swamps  found  his  way  to  Chef  Menteur. 
The  prisoners,  on  being  questioned,  assured  their  captors  that 
there  were  18,000  men  in  New  Orleans  and  at  the  English  Turn. 
The  effect  was  to  hasten  the  movement  of  the  attacking  party, 
and  by  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty- third  the 
whole  advanced  division  consisting  of  1,688  rank  and  file  were 
at  the  point  w^here  Villere's  canal  emptied  into  the  bayou,  three 
and  a  half  miles  from  the  Mississippi.  Landing  in  the  cane- 
brakes  they  rested  for  six  hours  and  then  resumed  their  journey. 
After  an  hour's  marching  through  the  soft  soil  on  the  banks 
of  the  canal  they  came  to  firmer  ground.  Stunted  cypresses 
met  their  eyes,  then  orange  trees  appeared,  and  pushing  through 


A  CHRISTMAS  "FANDANGO"  173 

these  they  found  open  fields  of  cane  stubble  beyond  which  at 
a  distance  of  from  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand  yards  were 
the  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  On  the  tilled  plain  were  the 
houses  of  General  Villere's  plantation,  and  in  them  was  a  com- 
pany commanded  by  his  son,  a  major  of  militia.  With  a  sudden 
dash  these  were  surrounded  and  the  militia  captured,  although 
Major  Villere  escaped  by  leaping  out  of  a  window  and  rushing 
to  the  river,  where  he  found  a  boat  in  which  he  reached  the 
opposite  bank.     When  this  was  done  it  was  about  noon. 

Villere's  plantation  was  on  the  public  road  leading  to  New 
Orleans  and  many  other  estates  were  near  it,  but  all  this  move- 
ment, from  midnight  till  noon,  was  without  the  opposition,  or 
even  the  knowledge,  of  the  Americans.  The  responsibility  was 
primarily  Major  Villere's,  who  failed  to  guard  the  bayou  prop- 
erly; but  it  was  shared  by  Jackson,  who  ought  not  to  have 
left  so  important  a  place  in  the  hands  of  militia  without  ade- 
quate supervision  by  a  trained  officer.  Up  to  this  moment 
Jackson  was  hardly  master  of  the  situation.  His  military 
genius  was  of  the  kind  that  does  one  thing  splendidly,  hurhng 
into  it  with  superhuman  energy  both  himself  and  all  who  were 
under  him.  It  was  not  of  the  kind  that  organizes  well  and 
manages  the  most  complex  situation  through  mastery  of  details. 
It  is  interesting  to  think  what  would  have  happened  had  the 
British  met  Jackson  in  some  open  country  where  there  was 
opportunity  for  maneuvering. 

While  the  enemy  made  this  advance  to  the  Mississippi  there 
was  confusion  and  hurry  in  the  city.  Not  knowing  just  where 
the  blow  would  fall,  it  was,  nevertheless,  understood  that  it 
would  be  a  severe  one  and  that  the  most  extraordinary  efforts 
were  necessary  to  sustain  it.  Both  the  governor  and  the  gen- 
eral were  apprehensive  of  the  legislature.  The  city  was  believed 
to  be  full  of  British  agents,  and  it  was  feared  that  they  might 
persuade  the  assembly  to  take  some  ill-advised  steps  toward 


174  THE  LIFE  OF  .\NDREW  JACKSON 

submission.  Claiborne,  in  order  to  meet  the  emergency,  took 
the  unusual  step  of  asking  the  legislature  to  adjourn  itself  for 
two  or  three  weeks.  The  reply  was  not  surprising:  the  assem- 
bly saw  many  reasons  why  it  should  continue  to  sit  and  it  would 
not  disperse.  Then  Jackson  declared  martial  law  in  the  fol- 
lowing words:' 

Major-General  Andrew  Jackson,  commanding  the  Seventh 
United  States  military  district,  declares  the  city  and  environs 
of  New  Orleans  under  strict  martial  law,  and  orders  that  in 
future  the  following  rules  be  rigidly  enforced,  viz.  Every  indi- 
vidual entering  the  city  will  report  at  the  adjutant-general's 
office,  and  on  failure  to  be  arrested  and  held  for  examination. 

No  person  shall  be  permitted  to  leave  the  city  without  a 
permission  in  writing  signed  by  the  general  or  one  of  his  staff. 

No  vessels,  boats  or  other  crafts,  will  be  permitted  to  leave 
New  Orleans  or  Bayou  St.  John,  without  a  passport  in  writing 
from  the  general  or  one  of  his  staff,  or  the  commander  of  the 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States  on  this  station. 

The  street  lamps  shall  be  extinguished  at  the  hour  of  nine 
at  night,  after  which  time  persons  of  every  description  found 
in  the  streets,  or  not  at  their  respective  homes,  without  per- 
mission in  writing,  as  aforesaid,  and  not  having  the  counter- 
sign, shall  be  apprehended  as  spies  and  held  for  examination. 

Robert  Butler, 
Adjutant-General. 

December  i6,  1814. 

This  step  was  supported  by  a  ringing  proclamation,  in  which 
Jackson  warned  the  citizens  that  there  were  spies  in  their  midst 
and  called  for  aid  in  arresting  them. 

In  the  meantime,  the  summoned  troops  were  hastening  to 
the  danger  point,  Carroll  making  the  best  time.  All  the  way 
down  the  river  in  flat-bottomed  boats  he  drilled  his  men  as  well 
as  he  could,  so  that  when  they  arrived  on  the  twenty-first, 

•Nflet,  Register,  VU.,  317. 


A  CHRISTMAS  "F.\NDANGO"  i75 

they  were  not  quite  so  raw  as  they  would  have  been  but  for  this 
foresight.  They  brought  reinforcements  to  the  number  of  2,500. 
The  Baratarians  were  sent  out  to  their  posts,  the  Louisiana 
militia,  the  uniformed  companies  of  the  city,  and  the  free  men 
of  color  in  their  two  battalions  -  -  all  were  distributed  at  points 
believed  to  be  threatened;  many  of  them  to  the  east  of  the  city 
along  the  road  to  Chef  Menteur,  some  others  in  the  city  itself 
where  they  could  be  used  for  emergency,  and  some  others  in  the 
outlying  posts.  None  of  them  were  on  the  road  which  led  from 
New  Orleans  to  Villere's  plantation. 

We  have  fortunately  a  letter  from  Jackson  to  one  of  his  most 
intimate  friends.  Col.  Robert  Hays,  of  NashviUe,  which 
shows  what  grasp  the  writer  had  on  the  military  situation  at 
the  moment  when  Keane's  troops  were  pushing  through  the 
cane  brakes  along  Villere's  canal.     The  letter  runs: 

Sir:  Before  this  reaches  you,  you  will  have  heard  of  the 
capture  of  our  gunboats  on  the  lakes,  since  which  the  British 
has  made  no  movement  of  importance.  The  Fort  at  Petit 
Cocquil,  they  have  not  yet  attacked.  That  is  the  only  Barier 
between  them  and  the  entire  peaceful  possession  of  the  lakes. 
They  are  said  to  be  in  great  force.  The  citizens  of  this  place, 
since  my  arrival,  has  displayed  a  great  show  of  ardor,  and  una- 
nimity. Genl.  Coffee  and  Genl.  Carroll  have  both  arrived  their 
Troops  in  good  health  for  the  climate  and  in  high  spirits,  and 
have  a  hope  should  the  British  effect  a  landing  at  any  point, 
I  will  be  able  to  check  them.  The  Kentuckians  has  not  reached 
me,  neither  have  I  heard  from  them.  I  have  not  received  a 
letter  or  paper  from  Tennessee  since  the  last  of  October.  I  am 
anxious  to  know  whether  Mrs.  Jackson  has  sailed  from  Nash- 
ville under  the  expectation  that  she  has,  has  been  the  reason 
why  I  have  not  wrote  her.  If  she  is  still  at  home  say  to  her 
the  reason  I  have  not  wrote  her,  and  say  to  her  and  my  little 
son  god  bless  them.     I  am  more  than  anxious  to  see  them. 

»Mr«.  Jackson  wai  preparing  to  join  her  husband  at  headquarters  when  she  learned  that  the  British  had 
landed,  and  on  that  account,  she  deferred  her  visit. 


176  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

I  send  you  for  your  perusal  the  orders  and  address  to  the  citi- 
zens of  this  place.  I  hope  under  every  circumstance,  and  let 
what  will  happen,  you  will  hear  that  I  have  done  my  duty. 
All  well:'' 

The  ink  of  this  letter  was  hardly  dry  before  travel- stained 
fugitives  began  to  arrive  at  headquarters  with  the  news  that 
the  foe  was  going  into  camp  eight  miles  away.  It  was  then 
1:30  in  the  afternoon  of  December  23d.  Immediately  orders 
were  issued  to  send  as  many  troops  as  possible  down  the  river 
road  to  face  the  enemy's  position.  If  Jackson  was  at  sea  when 
expecting  the  British  landing,  now  that  they  were  before  him 
and  his  problem  was  reduced  to  the  simple  task  of  meeting 
them  on  the  field,  he  became  the  incarnation  of  energy.  His 
decision  was  taken  instantly.  \\^ien  the  messenger  finished 
telling  of  the  arrival  at  Villere's  the  general  turned  to  some 
officers  and  said,  "Gentlemen,  the  British  are  below:  we  must 
fight  them  to-night."  Coffee,  Plauche  commanding  the  uni- 
formed companies,  Daquin  with  the  battalion  of  St.  Domingo 
Negroes,  the  7th  and  44th  regulars,  and  Hinds's  dragoons 
with  two  field-pieces,  were  assembled  on  the  river  road  south 
of  the  city  and  hurried  forward,  Coffee's  troops  in  the  van. 
Commander  Patterson  was  asked  to  send  any  available  vessels 
down  the  river  to  cooperate  in  the  proposed  attack.  Comply- 
ing he  embarked  on  the  schooner  Carolina  and  dropped  down  to  a 
position  opposite  the  British  camp,  the  ship  Louisiana  following. 
They  numbered,  by  the  American  reports,  besides  the  men  on 
the  Carolina,  2,131.  General  Morgan,  commanding  a  body 
of  Louisiana  militia,  at  English  Turn  —  south  of  Villere's  — 
was  directed  to  create  a  diversion  during  the  night  from  that 
side. 

About  sunset  the  British  advanced  post  noticed  a  body  of 


>J&ckson  to  Colonel  Robert  Hays,  December  23,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE 

ASIERICAN  AND  BRITISH  ARMIES 

NEAR 

NEW  ORLEANS 

Dec.  23.  18H  to  Ian.  8.  1815 


A  CHRISTMAS  "FANDANGO"  177 

two  hundred  horse  approaching  on  the  road  from  the  north. 
A  part  of  them  came  within  a  hundred  yards  and  wheeling  in 
excellent  form  rode  away ;  but  one  squadron  charged  with  great 
boldness  up  to  the  picket  and  did  not  retire  till  it  had  received 
a  volley  with  fatal  effect.  An  English  officer  who  was  present 
gives  us  the  following  interesting  statement  of  the  impression  it 
made  on  his    comrades: 

This  was  the  first  occasion,  during  the  course  of  our  Trans- 
Atlantic  warfare,  that  the  Americans  had  in  any  way  ventured 
seriously  to  molest  or  threaten  our  posts,  or  shown  the  smallest 
disposition  to  act  vigorously  on  the  offensive.  I  cannot  deny 
that  it  produced  a  curious  effect  upon  us.  Not  that  we  experi- 
enced the  smallest  sensation  of  alarm.  We  held  them  in  too  much 
contempt  to  fear  their  attack;  I  question  whether  we  did  not 
wish  that  they  would  hazard  one;  yet  we  spoke  of  the  present 
boldness,  and  thought  of  it  too,  as  a  meeting  on  which  we  had 
no  ways  calculated,  and  for  which  we  could  not  possibly  account. 
It  had  not,  however,  the  effect  of  exciting  an  expectation,  that 
the  attempt  would  be  renewed,  at  least  in  force;  and  though 
we  unquestionably  looked  upon  our  position,  from  that  mo- 
ment, with  a  more  cautious  eve,  we  neither  felt  nor  acted  upon 
the  supposition,  that  any  serious  danger  would  be  incurred, 
till  we  ourselves  should  seek  it/ 

This  frank  avowal  of  the  contempt  in  which  they  held  their 
opponents  goes  far  to  explain  the  defeat  which  awaited  Paken- 
ham's  soldiers.  The  force  before  them  was  unlike  any  other 
the  British  had  met  in  America;  but  the  difference  was  not 
so  much  due  to  the  men  as  to  the  spirit  infused  into  it  by  its 
leader.  Jackson,  by  his  personality,  could  have  made  in  a 
short  time  a  fighting  machine  out  of  any  body  of  average 
American  militia. 

The  British  troops  went  into  camp  on  the  river  bank  near 
the  centre  of  Viller6's  plantation,  at  a  point  at  which  the  levee 

^A  Subaiier»  in  America  (1833  ed.),  axg. 


178  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

and  public  road  make  an  angle.  Half  a  mile  north  they 
stationed  a  strong  advanced  guard  on  the  road  from  New  Or- 
leans, which  in  all  this  region  paralleled  the  river  bank.  Still 
farther  in  front  they  placed  a  picket  guard  on  the  river,  and 
from  this  point  a  series  of  such  guards  was  extended  at  an  acute 
angle  from  the  river  till  it  reached  the  border  of  Viller6's  plan- 
tation two  thirds  of  a  mile  av/ay.  Pickets  were  also  placed  on 
the  batture,  or  exposed  bed  of  the  river  between  the  water  and 
the  levee,  which  was  from  two  hundred  to  three  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  wide.  Their  artillery  consisted  of  only  two 
unused  three-pounders.'  These  arrangements  made,  the  British 
felt  safe  from  attack,  and  as  the  weather  was  cold  great  camp 
fires  were  lighted,  which  revealed  their  position  plainly. 

Jackson  was  before  the  enemy  by  sunset  on  this  short  winter 
day.  Giving  Coffee  command  of  732  men,  including  his  own 
dismounted  riflemen,  the  Mississippi  dragoons,  and  the  Orleans 
Rifle  Company,  he  ordered  him  to  move  to  the  left  and  fall  on 
the  enemy's  front  at  a  point  midway  between  the  advanced 
guard  and  the  main  body.  The  rest  of  the  Americans  were 
held  in  readiness  in  front  of  the  advanced  guard,  who  were  in 
a  position  to  be  cut  off  from.  Keane's  chief  force  and  captured 
or  cut  to  pieces.  The  Carolina  and  Louisiana  were  ordered 
to  cooperate  from  the  river,  and  the  former  did  good  service.' 
The  fire  from  these  vessels  was  to  be  the  signal  for  the  general 
attack. 

At  seven  o'clock  the  Carolina  came  up  to  the  brink  of  the  bat- 
ture in  front  of  the  British  camp  at  a  distance  of  three  hundred 
yards.  The  invaders  took  her  for  a  trading  ship  and  crowded  over 
the  levee  down  to  the  water's  edge  to  see  what  her  business  could 
be.  Their  brilliant  camp  fires  behind  them  made  them  ex- 
cellent targets  for  the  gunners,  who  suddenly  opened  fire.     So 


•Gayarre  History  of  Louisiana,  IV.,  431. 

The  Louisiana  could  not  be  brought  up  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  battle. 


A  CHRISTMAS  "FANDANGO"  179 

great  was  the  confusion  that  it  was  ten  minutes  before  the 
British  recovered  themselves,  seized  their  guns,  and  extinguished 
the  fires.  The  schooner  remained  in  her  place  and  did  so  much 
damage  during  the  engagement  that  the  British  were  forced  to 
keep  well  under  the  protection  of  the  levee. 

Soon  after  the  schooner  opened  fire,  the  main  body  of  the 
Americans  under  Jackson  began  to  move  against  the  advance 
guard  of  the  enemy.  At  a  distance  of  one  hundred  yards  the 
fighting  became  general  and  was  well  sustained  on  both  sides. 
Plauch6's  battalion  of  uniformed  companies  and  Daquin's  bat- 
talion of  St.  Domingo  Negroes  were  assigned  to  a  position  on 
Jackson's  left,  but  they  were  not  able  to  come  into  it  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  engagement.  This  left  the  American  line 
shorter  than  that  of  the  enemy,  who  tried  to  envelop  it  on  his 
right  flank.  While  the  movement  was  progressing,  he  ran  into 
Daquin  first,  and  then  Plauche,  deploying  in  the  dark,  received 
a  shock  from  their  cool  and  persistent  attack,  and  falling  back, 
carried  the  whole  fine  till  it  re-formed  and  stood  again  about 
three  hundred  yards  in  the  rear  of  its  first  position. 

In  the  meantime.  Coffee,  his  men  dismounted  and  deploying 
to  the  left,  came  into  the  position  assigned,  and  closed  in  behind 
the  portion  of  the  enemy  who  were  engaged  with  Jackson. 
In  doing  so,  he  met  and  drove  back  to  their  camp  some  of  the 
British  who  were  thrown  out  in  front  of  their  main  body.  Keep- 
ing ever  to  the  right,  he  approached  the  rear  of  the  advanced 
guard,  who  were  prudently  falling  back.  Coffee  concluded 
that  in  the  darkness  it  would  not  be  safe  to  get  between  them 
and  the  main  body,  especially  as  to  do  so  would  draw  him 
pretty  close  to  the  line  of  fire  from  the  Carolina.  He  contented 
himself  with  mo\dng  so  far  to  his  right  as  to  pass  this  body  on 
their  right,  and  take  position  in  front  of  them  where  he  was 
content  to  await  developments. 

It  was  now  half -past  nine,  the  fighting  had  continued  for 


i8o  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

two  hours,  the  enemy  were  heavily  reinforced  and  on  the  alert 
for  other  attacks,  and  Jackson  concluded  that  the  affair  had 
yielded  all  the  advantage  possible.  He  drew  off  his  men  to  a 
position  six  hundred  yards  north  of  the  enemy  and  across  the 
road  to  New  Orleans  to  await  daylight.  The  British  spent  the 
rest  of  the  night  in  anxiety,  posting  double  guards,  and  re- 
sponding to  the  slightest  alarm.  The  Americans  lost,  by  their 
own  report,  24  killed,  115  wounded,  and  74  missing.  Among 
the  slain  was  Colonel  Lauderdale,  of  Coffee's  Tennessee 
riflemen,  a  brave  officer  and  a  loyal  supporter  of  his  leader. 
The  British  reported  a  loss  of  46  killed,  167  wounded,  and  64 
missing.' 

The  British  writers  speak  of  this  action  as  an  American  de- 
feat. It  is  true  that  Jackson  did  not  accomplish  his  announced 
purpose  of  driving  the  enemy  from  American  soil;  but  he, 
nevertheless,  achieved  important  results.  The  army  acquired 
confidence  in  themselves  and  in  their  leader,  they  learned  how 
to  act  together,  and  they  lost  some  of  their  dread  of  British 
regulars.  The  British  themselves  found  that  they  had  before 
them  another  kind  of  opposition  than  they  had  met  in  America, 
with  the  result  that  they  continued  the  advance  slowly  and 
cautiously  and  gave  Jackson  time  to  construct  the  fortifications 
without  which  Louisiana  must  have  been  lost.  As  a  test  of 
the  superior  fighting  ability  of  the  two  sides  the  engagement 
proved  nothing.  Until  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  near  the 
close  of  the  fighting,  Jackson  was  in  superior  strength,  both  from 
actual  numbers  and  from  the  presence  of  the  Carolina  and  two 
guns  which  were  served  down  the  road  during  the  entire  action. 
The  British  seem  not  to  have  brought  into  use  the  small  guns 
which  were  landed  with  their  advance  division. 

The  battle  of  the  twenty-third  proved  what    Jackson  an- 


ijackson's  report  of  this  action  is  in  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  Appendix,  number  25-     For  losses  see 
Ibid,  No.  29.      For  the  British  report,  see  James,  Military  Occurrences,  II.,  529  and  532. 


A  CHRISTMAS  "FANDANGO" 


I8l 


nounced  to  Coffee,  a  Christmas  "fandango."  It  was  an 
answer  to  a  boast  of  the  Enghsh  admiral  that  he  would  eat 
his  Christmas  dinner  in  New  Orleans.  After  it  each  side  real- 
ized that  there  was  serious  fighting  ahead,  and  each  began  to 
make  the  best  preparations  for  a  contest  which  would  bring 
out  its  utmost  strength. 


CHAPTER  XII 

JANUARY   THE    EIGHTH,    1815 

When  Jackson  was  fighting  the  battle  of  December  23d,  he 
was  still  uncertain  about  the  plans  of  the  enemy.  He  feared 
that  Keane  was  attempting  a  ruse  in  order  to  draw  the  Ameri- 
cans to  Villere's  while  the  main  body  of  the  British  landed  at 
Chef  Menteur  and  seized  the  city.  Not  daring,  under  these 
circumstances,  to  take  all  his  troops  with  him,  he  ordered  Car- 
roll's 2,000  with  three  regiments  of  city  militia  to  hold  the 
road  to  Chef  Menteur,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  which  La- 
coste  was  stationed  with  his  battalion  of  city  Negroes.  In  fact, 
Jackson  suspected  that  Lacoste  was  already  taken;  but  soon 
after  the  battle  he  had  definite  news  from  that  officer,  who 
reported  that  the  main  body  of  the  enemy  were  passing  his 
position  and  entering  Bayou  Bienvenue.  Convinced  that  no 
ruse  was  intended,  Jackson  at  once  ordered  half  of  Carroll's 
force  to  his  aid.  His  first  impulse  was  to  renew  the  fight  at 
dawn,  but  on  reflection  he  "determined  not  to  play  so  deep  a 
game  of  hazard  as  to  attack  them  in  their  strong  position," 
but  to  select  a  protected  situation  and  await  battle.  There 
was  a  midnight  conference  with  the  engineers  and  it  was  decided 
to  establish  defenses  at  McCartey's  old  mill  race,  otherwise 
called  Rodriguez's  canal,  two  miles  north  of  the  scene  of  the 
night  battle.     It  was  no  more  than  a  dry  ditch  ten  feet  wide, 


'From  a  fragmentary  Journal  of  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  in  Jackson's  own  hand, 'covering  the  period 
from  December  23,  1814,  to  January  19,  1813.  It  seems  to  have  been  prepared  some  time  after  the  battle 
but  it  was  certainly  before  the  death  of  Major  Reid,  in  the  winter  of  181S-16.  The  sheets  are  missing  which 
deal  with  events  between  December  28  and  January  2$  and  from  January  7  and  to  the  battle  on  the  west  bank 
on  Januarj'  8.     It  is  among  the  Jackson  Mss.  in  the  Library  of  Congress. 

182 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  183 

running  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  river  to  swamp,  but  it 
was  the  best  natural  protection  in  the  neighborhood,  and  it 
was  thought  that  with  batteries  placed  at  intervals  it  could  be 
held  against  the  enemy. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  troops  began  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing of  the  twenty-fourth.  They  broke  away  from  the  left, 
Coffee  first,  then  Carroll,  who  was  already  on  hand,  and  last 
the  regulars.  At  sunrise  they  held  the  mill  race,  the  regulars 
next  the  river  and  Coffee  next  the  swamp,  in  the  same  order  as 
they  were  formed  before  the  British  a  few  hours  earlier.  Hinds's 
dragoons  and  a  small  company  of  horse  from  Feliciana  Parish 
were  left  to  observe  the  enemy. 

The  British  knew  nothing  of  this  movement  but  remained 
huddled  on  the  field  during  the  night  and  offered  battle  early 
in  the  morning.  When  no  attack  was  made  on  them  they  with- 
drew, at  eight  o'clock,  to  their  camp.  All  day  reinforcements 
were  hurried  forward  from  the  fleet,  and  by  the  morning  of 
the  twenty-fifth  all  the  army  which  had  arrived  at  the  anchorage 
was  landed.  An  old  levee  paralleled  the  new  one  at  a  distance 
of  300  yards  and  between  the  two  the  soldiers  found  some  pro- 
tection from  the  fire  of  the  Carolina  and  Louisiana  on  the  river 
and  from  the  threatened  attacks  of  Coffee's  horsemen  whom 
Jackson  sent  to  annoy  them  by  land.  Here  Pakenham  found 
them  when  he  arrived  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-fifth.  The 
first  thing  he  did  after  taking  command  was  to  move  them  to 
the  plain,  placing  a  large  body  near  the  cypress  swamp  and 
extending  his  outposts  across  the  intervening  space  to  the  river. 
By  this  time  the  two  armies  faced  each  other  at  an  interval  of 
two  miles,  one  preparing  to  march  straight  on  the  city,  the  other 
utilizing  every  hour  given  it  in  erecting  the  works  which  would 
defeat  such  an  advance. 

Pakenham  was  an  able  general  but  a  methodical  one.  With 
5,500  troops  in  his  camp  he  might  have  seized  the  American 


1 84  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

line,  now  barely  more  than  a  skeleton.  But  the  Carolina  and 
Louisiana  annoyed  his  right  flank,  and  he  determined  to  silence 
or  drive  them  away  before  he  moved.  By  great  exertion  he 
got  batteries  in  place  during  the  night  of  the  twenty-sixth  and 
opened  on  them  on  the  following  morning  with  shell  and  hot 
shot.  The  second  discharge  of  the  latter  fired  the  Carolina, 
which  could  not  be  taken  away  on  account  of  contrary  winds 
and  a  strong  current.  The  batteries  played  on  her  for  an  hour, 
when  she  blew  up.  Meantime,  the  Lonisiajta  with  difficulty 
was  towed  out  of  range  and  saved.  These  operations  delayed 
the  British  advance  four  days  and  gave  the  Americans  a  valuable 
opportunity  to  construct  works  of  defense. 

When  Jackson  fell  back  on  the  twenty-fourth  his  first  care 
was  to  order  heaxy  guns  and  entrenching  tools  from  New  Or- 
leans. At  I  p.  M.,  fifty  spades  and  mattocks  arrived  and  ground 
was  immediately  broken  for  the  first  battery.  The  general 
watched  it  with  feverish  anxiety,  expecting  at  any  moment 
to  receive  the  advance  of  the  British.  At  four  o'clock  he  learned 
that  they  were  being  heavily  reinforced  and  that  they  kept 
in  close  line  formation.  He  concluded  that  they  would  not 
come  at  once  and  redoubled  his  effort  on  the  works,  sending 
to  the  neighboring  plantations  for  all  available  implements. 
Three  times  each  day  he  rode  down  the  lines  and  kept  a  part 
of  his  staff  on  them  constantly.  Although  suffering  from 
serious  illness  he  did  not  sleep  for  three  days  and  nights  while 
the  entrenchments  were  going  through  their  first  stages.  He 
was  "determined  there  to  halt  the  enemy,"  as  he  himself  said, 
"or  bury  himself  on  the  ruins  of  that  defense.'" 

Among  Jackson's  manuscripts  is  a  fragmentary  journal  in 
which  he  gives  us  a  view  of  the  events  of  these  trying  days. 
In  it  we  have  a  ghmpse  of  the  anxious  haste  with  which  were 
utilized  the  four  days  of  grace  which  Pakenham  fortunately 

'Jackson's  fragmentary  Journal,  Jackson  Mss. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  185 

allowed.  During  the  night  of  the  twenty-fourth  the  two  six- 
pounders  which  served  in  the  night  battle  were  put  in  position  six 
hundred  yards  from  the  river,  being  battery  five  on  Latour's  plan.' 
The  next  morning,  the  twenty-fifth,  Hinds  reported  the  British 
still  in  camp  and  fortifying  on  their  flank.  This  seemed  a 
good  omen,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  complete  the  three 
batteries  then  being  constructed.  The  twenty-sixth,  Hinds 
reported  that  the  enemy  during  the  night  were  busy  bringing 
up  heavy  artiller}',  which  indicated  that  they  were  not  yet  pre- 
pared to  move  forward.  During  the  day  three  American 
batteries  were  completed,  being  numbers  two,  three,  and  four, 
commanded  respectively  by  Lieutenant  Norris,  Captain  Domi- 
nique, and  Lieutenant  Crawley.  The  morning  of  the  twenty- 
seventh,  Hinds  reported  that  the  British  were  still  in  camp  but 
showed  signs  of  activity.  Early  on  the  twenty-eighth  he  gave 
notice  that  they  were  forming  in  columns  as  if  to  advance. 
His  messenger  was  hardly  gone  when  the  dragoons  were  attacked 
in  force  and  compelled  to  withdraw  behind  the  American  lines. 
Following  closely  on  their  heels  came  the  whole  British  army 
in  two  compact  columns,  one  near  the  river  and  the  other  march- 
ing parallel  to  it  near  the  swamp.  The  sight  of  the  American 
works  surprised  them,  but  they  approached  within  cannon  shot. 
The  river  column  was  immediately  exposed  to  a  heavy  fire  from 
the  batteries  on  the  line  and  from  the  Louisiana  and  floating 
batteries  on  the  river:  it  was  glad  to  seek  any  cover  which 
offered  and  remained  till  evening  in  an  uncomfortable  position 
next  to  the  levee  from  which  it  was  brought  with  some  loss 
and  the  appearance  of  a  retreat.  The  other  column  deployed 
through  the  swamp  where  it  encountered  Coffee's  riflemen  and 
feU  back  when  he  prepared  to  outflank  it.  Pakenham  was 
unwilHng  to  try  to  carry  the  works  and  encamping  at  nightfall 
out  of  range  of  Jackson's  cannon,  sent  for  his  great  guns  and 

'Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  map  number  7. 


1 86  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

prepared  to  erect  batteries  with  which  he  could  beat  down 
his  opponent's  defenses.  At  that  time  the  American  earth- 
vv^orks,  if  we  may  believe  a  British  eyewitness,  were  no  more 
than  "a  few  abattis  with  a  low  mound  of  earth  thrown  up  in 
the  rear.'"  Near  the  swamp  they  were  weakly  protected  by 
the  batteries,  and  it  seems  probable  that  a  strong  column  massed 
here  under  the  protection  of  the  woods  could  have  brushed  away 
any  defense  Coffee  and  Carroll  could  have  offered.  It  was  the 
last  opportunity  the  British  had  to  break  through:  when  their 
batteries  were  established,  Jackson  had  strengthened  his  own 
works  until  they  were  impregnable. 

For  three  days  after  the  demonstration  of  the  twenty-eighth, 
the  cautious  and  methodical  Pakenham  gave  himself  to  the  task 
of  erecting  batteries  in  front  of  Jackson's  lines.  They  began 
at  the  river,  700  yards  from  the  Americans,  and  the  first  battery, 
containing  seven  light,  long-ranged  guns, was  brought  to  bear  on 
the  river  and  the  opposite  shore  where  Commander  Patterson 
had  erected  a  battery.  The  Americans  learned  from  deserters 
that  hot  shot  were  continually  ready  in  these  batteries  for  the 
Louisiana,  if  she  should  come  within  range.  Facing  Jackson's 
lines  were  four  batteries  with  seventeen  guns,  eight  eighteens, 
four  twenty-fours,  and  five  howitzers  and  field-pieces  probably 
of  twelve-  and  nine-pound  capacity.  It  is  estimated  from  the 
best  sources  that  they  threw  a  broadside  of  as  much  as  350 
pounds  of  metal. 

The  British  delay  gave  Jackson  an  opportunity  to  increase 
his  artillery  strength.  On  the  twenty-eighth  he  had  five  guns 
in  position,  on  the  first  of  January  fifteen.  Three  of  these, 
one  twenty-four  and  two  long  twelves,  were  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  river,  opposite  the  British  batteries  at  a  distance  of  three 
quarters  of  a  mile.  They  were  taken  from  the  Louisiana  and  un- 
der Patterson's  command  did  important  service  on  January  ist. 

^Subaltern  in  America  (edition  1833),  335. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  187 

On  the  east  bank  the  twelve  guns  were  placed  in  eight  bat- 
teries, thirty-twos,  twenty-fours  and  smaller  pieces.  Together 
they  threw  a  broadside  of  226  pounds.' 

At  8  o'clock  on  New  Year's  morning  these  two  lines  of  cannon 
began  the  best  sustained  artillery  engagement  of  the  war.  The 
British  were  the  attacking  party,  their  object  being  to  dismount 
the  batteries  so  that  the  waiting  infantry  might  go  through  the 
line.  They  had  the  opportunity  to  dismount,  if  they  could, 
the  opposite  batteries  one  at  a  time  by  concentrating  their 
fire.  If  they  did  not  do  so  within  a  reasonable  time  their  attack 
was  a  failure.  The  task  of  the  Americans  was  to  sustain  the 
fire  of  their  opponents,  and  in  this  respect  they  had  the  advantage 
of  better  earthworks,  because  they  had  longer  time  to  construct 
them.  They  sought  also  to  disable  the  opposing  batteries  and 
drive  them  from  the  attack.  The  infantry  of  the  two  sides  re- 
mained, for  the  most  part,  inactive  during  the  battle. 

The  British  had  great  confidence  in  their  artillerists,  who  now 
opened  vigorously  and  incautiously,  sending  their  shot  for  a 
time  too  high  and  thus  wasting  much  of  the  ammunition  which 
was  brought  from  the  fleet  with  great  difficulty.  The  Americans 
began  slowly,  observing  the  effect  of  their  fire  and  seeking  the 
proper  range.  As  they  found  it  their  fire  grew  stronger  till 
in  the  course  of  an  hour  it  became  so  accurate  and  penetrating 
that  the  British  were  surprised  and  forced  to  admit  its  superi- 
ority. Some  of  their  cannon  were  dismounted,  and  five  were 
reported  as  abandoned  on  the  field.  By  noon  most  of  their 
batteries  were  silent,  but  their  guns  nearest  the  river  were  able 
to  keep  up  a  response  at  intervals  till  three  in  the  afternoon. 
The  British  used  hogsheads  of  sugar  in  their  works,  which  proved 
to  have  sHght  power  of  resistance.  To  this  they  attributed  the 
failure.     In  the  night  they  withdrew  their  artillery,  having  lost 

iThis  statement  of  artillery  strength  is  taken  from  map  five  in  Latour,  Histofical  Memoir;  his  statement  in 
the  text  (page  U7),  is  slightly  different,  where  he  omits  the  two  four-pounders  and  includes  a  howitzer  in 
battery  number  one,  making  a  total  weight  of  metal  of  224  pounds. 


i88  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

something  less  then  seventy-five  men.  ''Such  a  failure  in  this 
boasted  arm,"  said  Admiral  Codrington  with  a  tinge  of  pro- 
fessional jealousy,  ''was  not  to  be  expected,  and  I  think  it  a  blot 
in  the  artillery  escutcheon.'"  But  we  must  not  demand  the 
impossible.  The  failure  was  due  to  the  resistance  of  Jackson's 
earthworks  and  the  excellence  of  his  gunnery. 

The  Americans  suffered  little.  In  the  cheeks  of  the  embrasures 
of  their  batteries  bales  of  cotton  were  placed,  which  were  knocked 
out  of  position  by  the  enemy's  shot  to  the  confusion  of  the  gun- 
ners.' Three  guns  were  somewhat  damaged,  two  caissons 
were  exploded,  and  thirty  men  were  killed  or  wounded  —  a 
small  price  to  pay  for  the  knowledge  that  American  gunners 
could  meet  their  English  brethren  on  equal  terms.  Jackson 
was  satisfied  with  his  success.  Till  nightfall  the  British  guns 
lay  in  the  empty  batteries,  but  he  made  no  attempt  to  bring  them 
off.  He  realized  that  it  behooved  him  to  be  cautious.  His 
trenches  and  his  army  were  the  only  defenses  against  conquest. 
It  was  for  his  antagonist  to  decide  what  the  next  move 
should  be. 

Pakenham's  decision  was  duly  made.  He  planned  to  throw 
to  the  west  of  the  river  a  body  of  troops  large  enough  to  seize 
Patterson's  guns  which  he  would  turn  on  Jackson's  army  on 
the  east  side,while  with  his  main  force  he  stormed  the  formidable 
works  which  sheltered  the  Americans.  The  movement  was 
well  designed,  and  if  carried  into  effect  with  precision  would 
be  a  dangerous  one  for  Jackson.  But  the  event  showed  that 
it  was  not  easy  to  make  the  attack  on  the  west  bank  at  the  right 
moment  for  cooperation  with  the  assault  on  the  east. 

The  experiences  of  the  past  fortnight  had  given  the  British 


•i»7e  of  CodringtonL,   334. 

'Much  has  been  said  by  later  writers  of  this  incident,  which  contemporaries  barely  mention,  Reid  and 
Eaton  seem  to  say  that  Jackson  continued  to  use  cotton  bales  in  his  earth-worlis  till  after  January  8,  Lije  oj 
Jackson,357.  Jackson,  on  the  other  hand,  said  in  his  old  age,  when  his  memory  was  entirely  reliable,  that  no 
cotton  bales  were  in  his  works.    See  Parton,  Jackson,  IH.,  633. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  189 

greater  respect  for  the  resistance  of  the  Americans,  and  their 
general  was  disposed  to  move  cautiously.  Major-General  Lam- 
bert was  daily  expected  with  the  7th  and  43d  regiments  number- 
ing together  1,570  men,  and  it  was  decided  to  await  their  arrival. 
Colonel  Thornton,  who  led  brilliantly  the  advance  at  Bladens- 
burg,  was  appointed  to  command  the  movement  on  the  west 
bank.  To  put  him  across  the  river,  orders  were  given  to  dig 
Villere's  canal  deep  enough  to  carry  the  ships'  barges,  and  on  the 
night  of  the  sixth  the  whole  army  by  shifts  labored  silently  to 
accomplish  this  vast  undertaking.  The  boats  might  have  been 
transported  on  rollers  with  less  labor;  for  they  were  lighter 
than  the  artillery  which  the  men  had  dragged  up,  but  Pakenham 
preferred  the  canal  since  it  would  make  it  easier  to  conceal  the 
movement  of  the  boats,  and,  in  order  to  make  the  deception 
surer,  he  commanded  troops  to  maneuver  in  front  of  the  canal 
while  the  boats  were  being  moved.  All  this  precaution  was 
unnecessary;  for,  on  the  seventh,  Patterson  from  the  opposite 
side  observed  all  that  was  done  and  understood  its  significance. 
It  was  not  until  January  6th,  that  Lambert  arrived  in  camp  and 
gave  the  occasion  for  the  final  advance.  On  the  seventh,  fifty 
boats  were  ordered  to  be  placed  on  the  Mississippi  for  the  em- 
barkation of  Thornton's  command  at  nightfall. 

These  activities  gave  Jackson  an  opportunity  to  make  further 
preparations  for  meeting  his  foe.  The  cannonade  on  the  first 
showed  that  his  works  were  not  thick  enough  and  they  were 
ordered  strengthened.  To  his  men  it  seemed  a  hardship,  this 
eternal  digging,  which  might  as  well  be  left  to  the  Negro  slaves: 
the  men  came  to  fight,  not  to  build  fortifications.  One  of  the 
battaUons  refused  point-blank.  Jackson,  alarmed  at  this  symp- 
tom of  mutiny,  sent  for  the  officers  of  the  discontented 
organization  and  told  them  plainly  that  he  was  prepared  to 
take  the  most  energetic  measures  if  the  men  persisted  in  dis- 
obedience.    The  officers  were   impressed  by   his   manner   and 


iQo  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

assured  him  there  would  be  no  more  trouble,  and  the  promise 
was  kept.' 

On  January  5th,  Major  Peire  suggested  that  a  bastion  be 
placed  on  the  levee  at  the  right  and  in  front  of  the  line  to  rake 
the  flank  of  a  charging  column.  Jackson  objected  on  the  ground 
that  it  would  obstruct  his  fire,  but  yielded  when  Colonel  Hayne, 
whose  opinion  he  valued  highly,  seconded  Peire's  opinion.  It 
was  against  his  judgment  that  he  gave  in  and  it  was,  as  he  says, 
"for  the  first  time  in  my  life."^  The  event  tended  to  justify 
his  opinion.  The  bastion  was  easily  seized  by  the  British  on 
the  eighth;  for  its  two  six-pounders  and  small  company  of 
defenders  were  not  able  to  resist  the  force  concentrated  against 
it;  and  retaking  it  was  expensive. 

January  2d,  General  John  Adair  rode  into  Jackson's  camp 
with  the  cheering  news  that  the  expected  Kentuckians  were  near 
at  hand.  Two  days  later  they  arrived,  2,268  in  all,  commanded 
by  Maj.-Gen.  John  Thomas.  They  were  badly  armed, 
two  thirds  having  no  guns  of  any  kind.  Seven  hundred  and 
fifty,  only  500  of  whom  had  muskets,  were  stationed  in  the  rear 
of  Carroll's  men  as  a  support.  They  were  under  the  command 
of  Brig.-Gen.  John  Adair.  The  rest  of  the  Kentuckians 
were  placed  on  Jackson's  second  line  at  Dupree's  plantation. 
Although  strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  get  arms  they  were 
only  slightly  successful,  and  these  good  troops  were  nearly 
useless  in  the  battle  which  was  about  to  begin.  But  on  January 
7th,  Adair  armed  400  more  of  his  men  with  guns  he  got  in  New 
Orleans  and  sent  them  to  the  advanced  line.  On  the  eighth, 
therefore,  1,100  Kentuckians  fought  by  the  side  of  Carroll's 
Tennesseeans. 

Jackson's  lines  of  defense  were  three  and  consisted  of  three 
parapets,  each  extending  from   the  river  to  the  swamp.      The 


•Jackson's  fragmentary  Journal,  Jackson  Mss. 
•From  Jackson's  fragmentary  Journal,  Jackson  Mss. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  191 

first  was  five  miles  from  the  city  along  Rodriguez's  canal,  the 
second  two  miles  north  of  this  at  Dupree's  plantation,  and  the 
third  at  Montreuil's,  a  mile  and  a  quarter  nearer  New  Orleans. 
The  second  and  third  lines  were  designed  for  rallying  points 
in  case  it  should  be  necessary  to  abandon  the  first.  As  no  such 
necessity  arose,  this  description  is  concerned  with  the  details 
of   the  first  line  only. 

When  Jackson  took  possession  of  Rodriguez's  canal  it  was  a 
dry  ditch,  twenty-five  feet  wide  and  four  or  five  feet  deep.  By 
cutting  the  levee  a  quantity  of  water  was  let  into  it,  but  the 
quick  subsidence  of  the  river  left  it  very  shallow.  Thirty 
yards  behind  the  canal  a  palisade  of  fence  pales  and  other  boards 
was  made  and  the  soil  was  banked  against  it  in  the  rear.  The 
supervision  of  the  engineers  was  not  strict,  and  the  citizen  sol- 
diers of  the  various  corps  followed  their  own  ideas,  with  the 
result  that  the  parapet  when  completed  was  very  irregular  in 
height  and  width.  In  some  parts  it  was  twenty  feet  wide  at 
the  top,  and  in  others  it  was  hardly  strong  enough  to  stop  a 
cannon-ball.  Everywhere  it  was  as  much  as  five  feet  high  and 
in  some  places  higher.  The  batteries  were  placed  in  three  groups, 
one  bearing  on  the  approach  along  the  river  road,  one  covering 
the  centre  of  the  plain,  and  the  other  covering  the  approach 
along  the  edge  of  the  swamp.  Number  one  was  seventy  feet 
from  the  river  with  the  bastion  a  short  distance  in  front  and  to  the 
right,  number  two  was  ninety  yards  farther  east,  number  three 
was  fifty  yards  beyond  that,  and  number  four  twenty  yards 
farther.  These  made  the  first  group.  Number  five  was  190 
yards  beyond  number  four,  and  number  six  about  thirty-six 
yards  farther,  and  these  made  the  second  group.  Number 
seven  was  190  yards  beyond  number  six,  and  number  eight  — 
the  crippled  brass  howitzer  —  was  sixty  yards  still  farther,  and 
these  made  the  third  group.  Fifty  yards  beyond  number  eight 
the  line  plunged  into  the  woods,  here  not  impassable,  for  750 


192  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

yards  and  then  bent  backward  at  right  angles  to  its  former 
direction  until  at  the  distance  of  200  yards  it  ended  in  an  im- 
practicable swamp.  The  part  within  the  woods  had  no  batteries 
and  was  only  thick  enough  to  withstand  rifle  shots.  Whenever 
necessary,  the  parapet  was  provided  with  a  banquette.' 

Besides  the  artillerymen,  the  troops  behind  the  line  consisted 
of  the  7th  regiment  next  the  river  and  from  that  point  in  order 
Plauche's  battalion,  Lacoste's  and  Daquin's  battalions  of 
Negroes,  the  44th  regiment.  General  Carroll's  command  sup- 
ported by  Adair  400  yards  in  the  rear,  and  Coffee's  command 
which  guarded  the  lines  from  the  point  at  which  it  entered  the 
woods,  to  the  end.  The  total  strength  of  these  various  bodies 
was  3,989  men.'  Behind  the  line  were  230  cavalry,  in  four 
small  groups;  and  along  the  edge  of  the  woods  were  posted  250 
Louisiana  militia  to  prevent  surprise  in  that  quarter.  Four 
hundred  yards  behind  the  line  was  placed  a  strong  row  of  senti- 
nels to  prevent  any  soldier  leaving  the  line  without  permission. 
In  front  of  the  line  at  a  distance  of  500  yards  were  the  outposts. 
In  this  excellent  position  Jackson  awaited  the  attack  which 
various  signs  and  bits  of  information  led  him  to  expect  on  the 
eighth  of  January. 

The  point  at  which  Pakenham  proposed  to  break  this  defense 
was  at  battery  number  seven,  which  could  be  approached  within 
two  hundred  yards  with  some  protection  from  the  woods.  In 
front  of  this  position  he  formed  a  column  of  2,150  men  under 
the  command  of  Major- General  Gibbs,  supporting  it  on  the 
right  by  a  regiment  of  West  Indian  Negroes,  520  strong,  with 
direction  to  advance  through  the  woods  and  occupy  Coffee's 
attention,  breaking  his  lines  if  possible.  While  Gibbs  led  this 
column  in  the  charge  on  the  right,  a  second  column  consisting 
of  1,200  men  under  Major-General  Keane  was  formed  to  advance 

>Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  145. 

This  estimate  is  based  on  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  150,  and  is  not  far  from  the  estimate  made  by  Jackson 
two  years  after  the  battle,  when  he  was  in  his  controversy  with  Adair. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  193 

along  the  road  by  the  edge  of  the  river,  making  a  demonstration 
in  force  against  Jackson's  right  and  drawing  his  fire,  while 
Gibbs  did  the  real  work  of  carrying  the  line.  A  third  column 
of  1,400  men  under  Major-General  Lambert  was  held  in  reserve 
near  the  centre  of  the  field.  During  the  night  of  the  seventh, 
six  eighteen-pounders  were  thrown  forward  to  one  of  the  re- 
doubts erected  for  the  artillery  battle  of  the  first  and  played 
on  the  American  line  during  the  attempted  assault.  Gibbs's  and 
Keane's  columns  were  ordered  to  form  two  hours  before  dawn 
on  the  eighth,  and  it  was  planned  to  hurl  them  against  the  Ameri- 
cans while  it  was  still  dark  enough  to  conceal  their  movements. 
Pakenham  hoped  that  the  attack  might  take  his  opponent 
by  surprise,  but  in  that  he  was  to  be  disappointed.  Had  no 
external  agency  informed  Jackson  of  what  was  coming,  his 
sleepless  activity  would  have  prevented  a  surprise. 

In  accurate  cooperation  with  this  assault  were  to  be  Thorn- 
ton's operations  on  the  west  bank.  With  1,400  men,  200  of 
whom  were  seamen  and  520  of  whom  were  blacks  from  the 
West  Indies,  he  was  directed  to  embark  by  nightfall  on  the 
seventh,  cross  the  river  to  a  point  three  miles  below  the  American 
defenses,  thence  march  in  the  night  up  the  river,  seize  Patter- 
son's batteries,  and  await  the  signal  for  the  attack  on  the  east 
bank.  On  getting  it  he  was  to  turn  Patterson's  captured  guns 
on  Jackson's  flank  with  all  possible  energy.  It  was  a  well 
arranged  plan ;  for  if  at  the  moment  of  crisis  in  his  front  Jackson 
should  find  himself  galled  by  his  own  guns  from  the  west,  the 
effect  could  be  little  less  than  demoralizing.' 

Thornton's  success,  however,  depended  on  accurate  coopera- 
tion and  this  proved  to  be  impossible.  The  capricious  Missis- 
sippi suddenly  fell  leaving  only  two  feet  of  water  in  the  precious 
canal  and  the  boats  had  to  be  dragged  along  slowly  by  the  men. 
The  caving  of  the  banks  stopped  some  of  the  largest  ones  and 

^SubalUrn  (editiou  1833,)  page  aS7.  James,  Military  Occurrences,  II.,  374-380. 


194  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

that  created  further  delay.  It  was  three  o'clock  before  Thornton 
pushed  off  with  a  third  of  his  force,  and  when  he  landed  unop- 
posed on  the  opposite  side  he  heard  the  reports  of  the  British 
batteries  which  opened  the  battle.  It  was  nearly  three  hours  be- 
fore he  could  come  within  striking  distance  of  Patterson's  guns. 

But  not  all  of  the  delay  was  with  Thornton.  Pakenham  had 
the  misfortune  to  appoint  the  44th  regiment  to  lead  Gibbs's 
column.  The  selection  is  unaccountable;  for  it  was  notorious 
in  the  army  that  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mullins,  then  in  command, 
was  incapable,  and  if  Pakenham  did  not  know  it,  the  fault  was 
his  own.  Fascines  made  of  bundles  of  sugar  cane  with  ladders 
were  collected  behind  the  place  designated  for  the  formation 
of  the  charging  column,  and  the  44th  was  ordered  to  take  them 
up  as  they  proceeded  to  the  head  of  the  division.  When  they 
arrived  they  had  neither  fascines  nor  ladders,  and  it  was  time 
for  the  assault  to  be  made.  Three  hundred  men  were  hurried 
back  to  get  them,  leaving  the  44th  at  the  head  of  the  column 
with  127  men.  As  the  moments  elapsed,  the  dawn  began  to 
appear  and  all  the  advantage  of  a  concealed  attack  was  lost. 
Through  this  the  troops  became  impatient  and  uneasy  under 
the  American  cannonade  which  then  began  and  the  signal  was 
given  for  the  attack  before  the  formation  of  the  44th  could  be 
restored.  With  this  element  of  confusion  at  the  head  of  the 
column  Gibbs's  advance  lost  the  precision  which  was  necessary 
in  the  severe  ordeal  to  which  Jackson's  deadly  fire  subjected  it. 
The  men  forgetting  their  duty  to  rush  the  works  with  the  bay- 
onets began  to  fire,  the  detail  of  the  luckless  44th,  rushing  up  with 
fascines  and  ladders,  threw  down  their  burdens  and  began  to  fire 
likewise,  and  the  advance  became  a  wavering,  confused  mass. 

Gibbs  was  now  in  despair.  All  his  commands  were  wasted,  his 
column  recoiled,  and  he  rushed  up  to  Pakenham  a  short  distance 
in  the  rear  exclaiming,  "The  troops  will  not  obey  me;  they 
will  not  follow  me!"     Gibbs  turned  and  dashed  to  the  head  of 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  195 

the  column  and  Pakenham,  his  hat  in  his  hand  and  shouting  en- 
couragement to  his  men,  followed  on  horseback.  Two  hundred 
yards  from  the  parapet  the  latter 's  horse  was  killed  and  the 
rider  was  wounded.  He  hardly  mounted  another  when  a  grape- 
shot  brought  him  to  the  ground  and  he  was  borne  to  the  rear 
in  a  dying  condition.  Gibbs  reached  the  head  of  the  column 
which  was  now  rallying  and  carried  it  forward  up  to  the  very 
Hnes  of  his  opponents,  but  in  the  deadly  fire  from  their  rampart 
he  fell  mortally  wounded  within  twenty  yards  of  the  canal. 
At  the  same  moment  Keane  was  severely  injured  and  when 
the  soldiers  saw  their  three  leaders  carried  off  the  field,  they 
lost  courage  and  fell  back.  Lambert  coming  up  with  reserves 
had  not  the  hardihood  to  repeat  the  costly  attempt. 

Meantime,  Keane  on  the  left  flank  had  been  in  action.  With 
the  signal  for  battle  his  brigade  advanced  along  the  river  road, 
driving  the  sentinels  so  rapidly  that  his  advanced  companies 
rushed  the  bastion  before  its  defenders  could  fire  more  than 
two  rounds  at  them.  Had  the  whole  column  now  followed  with 
vigor,  the  result  might  have  been  disastrous  for  the  Americans; 
but  mindful  that  his  duty  was  merely  to  make  a  demonstration^ 
Keane  held  his  men  back, while  the  Americans  rallied  and  drove 
out  the  captors  of  the  bastion.  His  main  column  was  halting 
at  a  respectful  distance  from  the  American  fire.  Seeing  the 
plight  of  Gibbs's  division  near  the  woods,  he  obliqued  across 
the  interval  to  their  assistance.  It  was  rashly  considered  but 
bravely  done  in  the  face  of  the  American  fire.  It  accomplished 
nothing:  Keane  himself  was  severely  wounded  at  the  brink  of 
the  canal  and  his  troops  fell  back  with  the  others.  The  charge 
began  at  six:  at  half  past  eight,  the  fire  of  the  musketry  ceased 
and  at  two  the  cannonade  ended.' 

>For  the  details  of  the  British  charge  see  Lambert's  report,  James,  Military  Occurrences,  II.,  Appendix, 
number  g6;  also  the  testimony  of  Majors  Tylden  and  McDougal  quoted  in  the  same,  pages  375  to  379;  Sub- 
altern, chapter  21;  Gleig,  Campaigns  in  America,  323-7;  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  154-164;  and  Reid  and 
Eitoa,  Jackson,  365-70.  Subaltern  alone,  mentions  Keane's  oblique  movement,  but  he  does  it  so  explicitly 
that  it  is  impossible  to  ignore  him. 


196  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

But  for  the  confusion  in  Gibbs's  column  the  British  charge 
was  made  splendidly.  It  was  received  by  the  Americans  with 
equal  courage  and  without  confusion.  All  night  they  lay  on 
their  arms  in  two  equal  shifts  which  relieved  one  another  at  the 
ramparts.  The  first  clearing  of  the  horizon  at  dawn  revealed 
the  enemy  drawn  up  in  line  more  than  four  hundred  yards  in 
front  of  the  ditch.  The  American  batteries  opened  at  once, 
while  the  British  gave  the  signal  for  the  charge.  With  grim 
determination  and  some  admiration  the  backwoods  riflemen 
saw  the  red  line  narrow  itself  into  a  compact  column  sixty  men 
broad  and  start  at  double  quick  for  that  part  of  the  works  which 
was  defended  by  Carroll  and  Adair.  They  had  ample  time  for 
preparations  and  concentrated  their  forces  at  the  danger  point 
in  several  ranks  which  fired  and  loaded  alternately.  At  easy 
musket  range  the  American  infantry  delivered  a  murderous 
fire,  shaking  the  column,  while  the  batteries,  loading  with  grape 
and  canister,  ploughed  wide  lanes  through  the  compact  mass. 
The  roll  of  musketry  was  like  continuous  peals  of  thunder.  The 
first  onslaught  lasted  twenty-five  minutes,  when  the  column 
recoiled  to  its  original  position,  where  it  was  reformed  and 
brought  back.  Again  the  Tennesseeans  and  Kentuckians 
received  it  with  a  hail  of  musket-balls  and  grape-shot.  A  few 
of  the  attackers  crossed  the  canal,  probably  two  hundred,  and 
endeavored  to  cHmb  the  slippery  sides  of  the  parapet.  Some 
succeeded,  only  to  be  killed  or  captured  on  the  top,  and 
others  remained  in  comparative  safety  at  the  bottom  till  they 
rejoined  their  retreating  colleagues.  When  the  smoke  of 
battle  cleared  away,  a  broad  space  before  the  seventh  battery 
was  red  with  the  prostrate  forms  of  British  soldiers.  ''The 
groimd,"  says  Subaltern,  "was  literally  covered  with  dead; 
they  were  so  numerous  that  to  count  them  seemed  impos- 
sible."    They  were   counted,  however,  the  dead  and  wounded 

lEditioQ  1833,  page  363. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  197 

on  the  east  bank,  and  the  number  was  1,971.  Jackson's  loss 
on  this  side  was  six  killed  and  seven  wounded.  Among  the 
British  casualties  were  one  lieutenant-general,  two  major-gen- 
erals, eight  colonels  and  lieutenant-colonels,  six  majors,  eighteen 
captains,  and  fifty-four  subalterns.  This  excessive  propor- 
tion of  the  officers  engaged  shows  the  excellence  of  the 
frontier  marksmanship. 

On  the  west  bank  the  battle  went  otherwise.  Jackson  was 
accustomed  to  concentrate  his  energies  on  one  thing  at  a  time. 
While  he  gave  himself  to  driving  the  British  from  Pensacola, 
he  neglected  New  Orleans,  although  he  might  have  done  much 
good  by  riding  thither  at  least  once  while  he  waited  for  Coffee. 
In  the  same  manner  he  gave  his  attention  to  the  east  bank  and 
left  the  west  side  to  others.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  was 
once  on  that  side  during  the  sixteen  days  that  the  British  were 
pushing  their  way  toward  the  city.  He  left  the  defense  there 
to  Maj.-Gen.  David  Morgan,  of  the  Louisiana  militia,  a  man 
of  Httle  military  experience  or  ability,  and  gave  him  a  body 
of  militia  who  had  never  seen  service  of  any  kind.  And  although 
the  river  was  only  three  quarters  of  a  mile  wide  at  this  place 
no  boats  were  provided  for  crossing  so  as  to  allow  means  of 
quick  reinforcements.  On  January  7th,  Morgan  had  550  militia, 
when  it  was  known  that  he  would  be  attacked  during  the  night. 
To  reinforce  him  Jackson  in  the  afternoon  ordered  500  of  the 
unarmed  Kentuckians  to  proceed  to  the  west  bank  by  way  of 
the  city,  where  they  were  expected  to  get  some  arms  which 
the  mayor  was  retaining  for  an  emergency.  In  the  city  they 
learned  that  Adair  got  these  arms  earlier  in  the  day,  but  after 
some  delay  they  got  seventy  muskets  at  the  naval  station  which, 
with  some  inefficient  arms  they  had  before,  made  170  who  had 
guns.  The  rest  did  not  feel  called  upon  to  hurry  into  danger 
without  arms  and  went  into  camp  a  little  south  of  the  city. 
The  armed  ones,  under  command  of  Colonel  Davis,  proceeded 


198  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

and  came  to  Morgan's  lines  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
eighth.  They  had  marched  in  twelve  hours  from  Dupree's  line 
to  Morgan's  line,  a  distance  of  eight  miles,  not  enough  to  exhaust 
them,  but  under  such  conditions  that  they  were  tired  and  dis- 
couraged. Morgan  received  them  gladly,  and  keeping  the  larger 
part  of  his  Louisiana  troops  in  his  line  sent  the  Kentuckians 
at  once  farther  down  the  river  to  meet  the  enemy.  It  was  not 
a  cheerful  detail  to  men  who  were  expecting  an  opportunity 
to  rest,  but  they  departed  without  protest. 

Earlier  in  the  night  Morgan  sent  Major  Arnaud,  with  100 
militia  down  the  river  road  to  prevent  the  landing  of  the  British. 
Finding  no  enemy  on  the  bank  he  bivouacked  his  command  at 
midnight  three  miles  from  Morgan  and  placed  a  single  sentinel 
on  the  road  southward  from  it.  At  dawn  Thornton  with  600 
men  and  three  gun-barges  on  the  river  manned  by  about  a  hun- 
dred sailors  moved  northward  as  rapidly  as  possible.  They 
soon  came  upon  Arnaud's  faithful  sentinel,  who  gave  his  com- 
rades fair  warning  of  their  danger  and  enabled  them  to  escape  in 
safety.  A  mile  from  Morgan  they  joined  the  Kentuckians  under 
Colonel  Davis,  who  took  command  of  both  bodies,  formed  them 
on  a  canal,  and  awaited  Thornton's  attack.  It  came  promptly 
with  an  attempt  to  turn  the  right,  where  Arnaud  was  placed. 
The  Louisianians  were  thrown  into  confusion  and  fled  incon- 
tinently, so  demoralized  that  very  few  of  them  saw  further 
service  during  the  day.  Davis  was  forced  to  fall  back,  and  he 
joined  Morgan  who  assigned  him  to  a  place  on  his  right  flank. 
Thornton  followed  aggressively,  annoying  the  Americans  both 
on  land  and  from  his  three  gun-barges,  which  continually  raked 
the  bank  with  grape-shot. 

Morgan's  line,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  and  a  mile 
southward  of  Jackson's  line,  was  badly  located.  It  began 
at  the  southern  end  of  Patterson's  batteries,  which  covered  nearly 
a  mile  of  the  bank,  and  ran  with  a  canal  from  the  river  to  the 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,    1815  m 

swamp,  a  distance  of  2,000  yards.     To  hold  such  a  line  properly 
would  require  2,000  men.    It  was  selected  agamst  the  advice 
of  Jackson's  engineer,  who  pointed  out  a  position  halt  a  mile 
northward  where  the  plain  was  only  half  as  wide.     But  that 
position  would  leave  half  of  Patterson's  batteries  south  of  the 
line;  and  since  Morgan  decided  after  conferring  with  Patterson, 
it  is  not  unfair  to  assume  that  the  desire  to  protect  the  batteries 
had  something  to  do  with  Morgan's  decision.     Entrenchments 
were  thrown  up  on  the  line  for  200  yards  from  the  river,  and  m 
this  part  were  placed  one  twelve-pounder  and  two  six-pounders 
with  that  part  of  the  miUtia  which  remained  after  Arnaud  s 
flight    This  left  1 ,800  yards  undefended,  and  when  Davis  arnved 
about  eight  o'clock,  hard  pressed  by  Thornton,  he  was  ordered 
to  take  position  upon  it.     Between  him  and  the  militia  was  an 
interval  of  200  yards,  his  own  command  of  less  than  200  men 
was  stretched  out  to  cover  300  yards,  and  the  rest  of    he  hne 
to  the  swamp  was  without  defense  except  for  a  picket  guard 
of  eighteen  men.    The  whole  force  was  a  little  over  600,  some 

of  whom  were  badly  armed.  o    •      at         >= 

Thornton  was  as  quick  as  he  was  energetic.     Seeing  Morgan  s 
exposed  right  he  determined  to  turn  it.     He  sent  a  part  of  the 
8.;th  regiment  to  make  this  flank  movement  by  way  of  the  woods 
and  out  of  range  of  any  guns  which  Patterson  or  Morgan  coiud 
bring  to  bear  on  them.     With  another  part  of  his  force  he  made 
a  feint  along  the  road,  and  with  still  another  sought  to  enter 
the  gap  between  Davis  and  the  militia.    The  Kentuckians  stood 
well  for  a  time,  but  realizing  that  they  were  about  to  be  sur- 
rounded, withdrew  from  their  position,  leaving  the  mihtia  exposed 
on  their  right  with  the  result  that  these  also  retreated.     Botn 
Morgan  and  Patterson  expected  that  the  batteries  of  the  latter 
would  protect  the  line,  but  in  the  actual  conflict  it  was  seen  that 
the  defenders  of  the  hne  so  obstructed  the  fire  that  they  could 
not  be  used  on  an  enemy  approaching  from  the  south.  Thornton  s 


20O  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

success  on  the  line  forced  Patterson  to  withdraw.  He  had 
time  merely  to  spike  his  long-range  guns,  which  had  served 
so  well  in  annoying  the  enemy  on  the  east  bank,  and  to  withdraw 
his  gunners.  Thus  it  happened  that  about  the  time  the  attack 
on  the  east  side  was  a  failure  that  on  the  west  was  completely 
successful.  Thornton  pursued  the  retreating  Americans  for 
two  miles.  Holding  the  west  bank  for  a  mile  above  Jackson's 
line  the  British  were  now  in  a  position  to  force  him  out  of  his 
position,  had  they  been  disposed  to  follow  Thornton's  success. 

Fortunately  for  the  Americans,  the  British  were  satisfied 
with  the  situation.  They  had  suffered  too  much  on  the  east 
bank  to  utilize  their  success  on  the  west,  and  Major-General 
Lambert,  who  was  now  in  command,  after  finding  that  it  would 
take  2,000  troops  to  hold  what  Thornton  had  won  —  which 
Jackson  tried  to  hold  with  600  —  ordered  the  left  column  to 
recross  the  river  during  the  night.  Thus  ended  an  engagement 
in  which  Jackson  lost  six  killed  and  wounded,  sixteen  pieces  of 
artillery,  and  the  key  to  his  first  Hne  of  defense.  It  cost  the 
enemy  seventy-three  killed  and  wounded,  and  Thornton  was 
among  the  latter.  The  entire  losses  for  the  day  were  for  the 
British  2,137  and  for  the  Americans  seventy-one,  fifty  of  which 
were  sustained  in  a  sortie  from  Jackson's  line.' 

Responsibihty  for  the  disaster  on  the  west  bank  rests  on 
Morgan  and  Patterson,  who  adopted  an  impossible  line  of  de- 
fense, and  on  Jackson,  who  was  ignorant  of  the  conditions  there 
and  who  failed  to  send  enough  troops  to  hold  it.  For  two  weeks 
1,000  of  Carroll's  men  had  lain  on  the  Chef  Menteur  road  in 
the  unwarranted  expectation  that  the  enemy  would  divide  his 
force  and  carry  that  approach  before  it  could  be  strengthened 
from  the  American  lines  on  the  river.     Had  these  Tennesseeans 


»For  the  battle  of  the  west  bank  see  Latour,  Bisiorical  Memoir,  164-176,  Reid  and  Eaton,  .7ac*Jon,  373- 
378,  Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  478-496,  Smith,  The  Battle  of  New  Or/ean^, (Filson  Club  Publications,  number 
19),  89-121,  Jackson's  and  Patterson's  reports  in  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  Appendix,  number  29,  Thornton's 
and  Lambert's  report8,76W,  number  66,  and  in  James,  Military  Occurrences,  Appendix,  numbers  g6  and  97. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  201 

been  ordered  to  join  Morgan  on  the  afternoon  of  the  seventh, 
the  story  of  the  battle  would  probably  have  been  different.' 

Jackson  did  not  recognize  this  responsibility  and,  with  both 
]Morgan  and  Patterson,  placed  it  on  the  detachment  of  Kentuck- 
ians.  In  the  moment  when  Gibbs  and  Keane  were  repulsed,  the 
commander-in-chief,  standing  on  the  levee  by  his  line,  saw  through 
the  mists  the  maneuvers  of  Thornton  a  mile  and  a  half  away. 
Events  immediately  in  front  of  him  gave  him  confidence  and 
he  waited  to  see  a  like  success  on  the  west  bank.  To  his  disap- 
pointment the  flashes  of  the  guns  through  the  fog  revealed  the 
retreat  of  the  Kentuckians  and  Louisianians.  "At  the  very- 
moment,"  runs  his  report,  "when  the  entire  discomfiture  of 
the  enemy  was  looked  for,  with  a  confidence  amounting  to 
certainty,  the  Kentucky  reinforcements,  in  whom  so  much 
reliance  had  been  placed,  ingloriously  fled,  drawing  after  them, 
by  their  example,  the  remainder  of  the  forces."  This  was  his 
official  indignation.  His  unofficial  wrath  burst  out  in  violent 
abuse  that  morning  on  the  levee,  as  he  saw  the  men  falling  back. 
He  ordered  General  Humbert,  distinguished  in  the  French  army 
of  Napoleon  but  now  serving  as  a  volunteer  private  in  the 
American  ranks,  to  take  400  men,  cross  the  river,  and  recover 
the  lost  position  at  any  cost.  Humbert  obeyed  with  pleasure, 
but  on  the  other  side  found  that  some  of  Morgan's  officers 
objected  to  serving  under  a  man  who  was  not  a  citizen,  and  as 
Jackson  had  neglected  to  give  him  written  authority  for  as- 
suming command  he  returned  in  disgust.  The  withdrawal 
of  Thornton  made  it  possible  for  the  Americans  to  reoccupy 
their  former  position,  where  a  better  line  was  established  and 
Patterson's  batteries  were  remounted  in  a  better  location. 

At  noon  of  the  eighth  there  was  a  Bengal  from  the  enemy 

*Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  422,  and  Jackson's  fragmentary  Journal,  December  23.  Jackson's  assertion 
that  only  sixteen  hundred  of  Carroll's  men  had  arms  seems  doubtful,  but  even  if  it  is  correct,  he  still  had  six 
hundred  of  Carroll's  men,  wl\ora  he  could  have  spared  to  Morgan.  See  Jackson  to  Monroe,  December  24, 
1814  and  February  17,  rSis,  faction  Mss. 


202  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

on  the  east  bank  and  a  flag  of  truce  approached  with  a  letter 
asking  for  an  armistice  to  bury  the  dead.  Desiring  to  conceal 
the  loss  of  the  three  senior  officers,  Lambert  signed  the  request 
without  naming  his  rank.  Jackson  desired  to  gain  time  and 
replied  with  explicit  terms,  which  he  hardly  expected  Lambert 
to  accept.  The  latter  took  it  under  consideration,  promising 
an  answer  by  ten  o'clock  on  the  ninth.  Lambert  hesitated, 
because  Jackson  insisted  that  operations  should  not  cease  en 
the  west  bank  and  that  neither  party  should  reinforce  his 
troops'  there.'  By  next  morning  Thornton's  command  was 
safe  on  the  east  bank,  and  Lambert  accepted  the  armistice. 
The  dead  and  the  severely  wounded,  left  on  the  field  during  the 
night,  wTre  now  removed.  Gleig,  a  British  officer  who  rode 
out  to  the  scene,  tells  us  what  he  saw.  "Of  all  the  sights,"  he 
says,  "I  ever  witnessed,  that  which  met  me  there  was  beyond 
comparison  the  most  shocking  and  the  most  humiliating.  Within, 
the  small  compass  of  a  few  hundred  yards  were  gathered  to- 
gether nearly  a  thousand  bodies,  all  of  them  arrayed  in  British 
uniforms.  Not  a  single  Am^erican  was  among  them;  all  were 
English;  and  they  were  thrown  by  dozens  into  shallow  holes, 
scarcely  deep  enough  to  furnish  them  with  a  slight  covering  of 
earth.  Nor  was  this  all.  An  American  officer  stood  by  smok- 
ing a  segar,  and  apparently  counting  the  slain  with  a  look  of 
savage  exultation;  and  repeating  over  and  over  to  each  indi- 
vidual that  approached  him,  that  their  loss  came  only  to  eight 
men  killed,  and  fourteen  wounded.'"' 

From  the  eighth  till  the  eighteenth  the  armies  were  inactive 
except  for  a  desultory  cannonade  from  the  American  fine  and  a 
spiritless  British  bombardment  of  Fort  St.  Philip,  on  the  Missis- 

iSee  Jackson's  report,  January  g,  1815,  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  Appendix  number  29,  and  Raid  and  Eaton, 
Jackson,  383.  But  Jackson's  fragmentary  Journal  and  a  letter  from  Lambert  to  Jackson,  January  8,  both 
iu  the  Jackson  Mss,  seem  to  show  that  the  armistice  was  accepted  on  the  eighth.  Jackson  thought  that 
Lambert  was  frightened  by  the  demand  that  neither  side  should  reinforce  the  west  bank,  and  delayed  til! 
he  -could  bring  Thornton  over. 

'Gleig,  Campaign  at  Washington  and  New  Orleans.  332. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,   1815  203 

sippi.  Major  Hinds,  whose  conduct  in  this  campaign  marks 
him  for  a  man  of  singular  ability,  asked  permission  to  attack 
with  the  cavalry.  Jackson  refused,  lest  Hinds  should  do  some- 
thing which  would  bring  on  an  engagement  in  the  open  field. 
He  advised  with  Adair  and  Coffee,  both  of  whom  urged  him  not 
to  attack  in  the  open.  The  former  said:  *'My  troops  will 
fight  when  behind  breastworks  or  in  the  woods,  but  do  not  hazard 
an  attack  with  raw  militia  in  the  open  plain:  they  cannot  be 
relied  on.  The  officers  are  inexperienced,  the  soldiers  without 
subordination  or  discipline.  You  would  hazard  too  much  by 
making  an  attack  with  them  in  the  open  plain  against  well 
disciplined  troops.'" 

On  the  fifteenth,  signs  of  activity  in  the  camp  showed  that 
the  British  were  about  to  depart:  on  the  morning  of  the  nine- 
teenth their  lines  were  deserted.  They  had  constructed  forti- 
fications at  the  mouth  of  Bayou  Bienvenue  and  withdrawn 
behind  them  till  the  army  could  be  carried  slowly  to  the  fleet 
riding  in  deep  water  sixty  miles  away.  Hinds  with  1,000  men 
was  sent  to  cut  up  their  rear,  but  found  them  so  well  defended 
in  the  narrow  passes  of  the  sw^amps  that  he  considered  it  unwise 
to  attack.'  On  the  twenty-seventh,  the  difficult  work  of  em- 
barking was  completed;  but  bad  weather  detained  the  fleet 
at  its  anchorage  until  February  5th,  when  it  was  at  last  able 
to  stand  away  to  the  east.  Two  days  later  it  came  to  a  halt 
off  Dauphine  Island,  where  the  army  was  disembarked  for  a 
period  of  rest  after  a  most  exhausting  and  demoralizing  experi- 
ence. Its  total  loss,  by  the  British  account,  since  December 
23d,  was  2,492,  while  its  opponents  lost  only  333.' 

On  the  morning  of  the  nineteenth,  Jackson  and  his  staff  rode 
to  the  abandoned  camp.  They  were  met  on  the  way  by  a  British 
surgeon  with  a  letter  from  Lambert  announcing  his  departure 

'Jackson's  fragmentary  Journal,  Jackson  Mss. 

^Ibid. 

'Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  Appendix,  number  2g;  James,  Military  Occurrences,  II.,  388. 


204  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

from  Louisiana  and  asking  considerate  treatment  for  eighty- 
wounded  who  could  not  be  moved.  Jackson  received  the  mes- 
senger with  courtesy  and  sent  his  chief  medical  man  to  aid  in 
caring  for  the  wounded  men,  and  later  he  visited  them  himself. 
On  the  ground  the  enemy  left  fourteen  pieces  of  artillery  so 
disabled  as  to  be  useless.  On  the  twenty-first,  the  major  part 
of  the  American  army  was  withdrawn  from  the  lines  and  entered 
the  city  amid  demonstrations  of  joy  by  the  inhabitants.  On  the 
twenty-third  a  Te  Deum  was  sung  in  the  cathedral  with  great 
pomp.  As  the  general  proceeded  across  the  square  to  the 
edifice  he  passed  under  a  triumphal  arch  under  which  two 
maidens  presented  him  with  laurel  wreaths;  farther  on  other 
maidens  strewed  flowers  in  his  path;  at  the  door  the  Abbe 
Dubourg  delivered  a  laudatory  address  to  which  Jackson  re- 
plied in  studied  moderation;  and  a  guard  of  honor  escorted 
him  to  his  lodgings. 

In  his  address  the  abbe  referring  to  the  recent  victory  said: 
"The  first  impulse  of  your  religious  heart  was  to  acknowledge 
the  signal  interposition  of  Providence."  A  "religious  heart" 
has  rarely  been  considered  one  of  Jackson's  possessions,  yet 
in  this  case  the  priest's  words  were  appropriate.  Several  of 
the  grim  warrior's  letters  witness  his  conviction  that  his  success, 
marvellous  to  himself,  was  partly  due  to  Divine  intervention. 
To  his  friend,  Col.  Robert  Hays,  he  wrote:  "It  appears 
that  the  unerring  hand  of  providence  shielded  my  men  from  the 
shower  of  Balls,  bombs,  and  Rockets,  when  every  Ball  and 
Bomb  from  our  guns  carried  with  them  a  mission  of  death. 
Tell  your  good  lady  and  family  god  bless  them."'  Nor  did  he 
hesitate  to  give  the  same  opinion  in  his  official  dispatches.  To 
Monroe  he  wrote:  "Heaven,  to  be  sure,  has  interposed  most 
wonderfully  in  our  behalf,  and  I  am  filled  with  gratitude  when 
I  look  back  to  what  we  have  escaped;  but  I  grieve  the  more 

'Jackson  to  Hays^January  26,  1815,  Jackson  Mss. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,  1815  205 

that  we  did  not,  with  more  and  more  industry  use  the  means 
with  which  she  had  blessed  us.  Again  and  again  I  must  repeat, 
we  have  been  always  too  backward  with  our  preparations.  When 
the  enemy  comes  we  begin  to  think  of  driving  him  away;  and 
scarcely  before."  * 

It  is  true  that  Jackson  realized  the  mihtary  situation  slowly. 
It  was  not  till  the  British  were  actually  at  hand  that  he  realized 
the  importance  of  guarding  New  Orleans:  it  was  not  till  the 
gunboats  were  taken  that  he  realized  that  he  ought  to  concen- 
trate his  forces:  it  was  not  till  December  29th,  that  he  ordered 
New  Orleans  to  be  searched  for  entrenching  tools;'  it  was  not 
till  the  British  held  Bayou  Bienvenue  that  he  realized  its  impor- 
tance: it  was  not  till  the  militia  were  about  to  arrive  without 
arms  that  he  realized  how  few  muskets  he  had:  it  was  not  till 
Jean  Lafitte  suggested  that  the  extreme  left  of  his  line  ought 
to  be  bent  backward  so  as  to  rest  on  an  impassable  swamp  that 
this  position  was  made  secure;'  and  it  was  not  till  Thornton 
held  the  left  bank  that  he  realized  fully  its  importance  in  the 
general  scheme  of  defense. 

A  serious  embarrassment  in  this  campaign  was  the  lack  of 
arms.  Jackson  tried  to  throw  the  responsibility  on  others. 
His  apologists  say'  he  asked  for  a  supply  in  the  summer  of  18 14, 
but  no  reference  to  this  is  made  in  his  extensive  preserved  cor- 
respondence in  the  summer  and  early  autumn.  He  even  drew 
500  stands  from  New  Orleans  to  Mobile  in  September.'  The 
first  specific  reference  to  the  subject  in  the  correspondence  is 
in  a  letter  to  Governor  Blount,  October  27th.''  Coffee  had  just 
arrived  without  a  full  equipment  and  that  seems  to  have  roused 
his  interest  for  the  first  time.    Up  to  that  time  he  seems  to  have 

ijackson  to  Monroe,  February  17,  1815,  Jackson  Mss. 
'Livingston  to  Mayor  Girod,  December  29,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
'Livingston  to  Jackson,  December  25,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
*Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  66. 

'Captain  Humphrey  to  Jackson,  September  6,  1814 ,  Jackson  Mss. 
'Jackson  Mss. 


2o6  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

overlooked  the  fact  that  his  division  was  without  arms,  which 
was  quite  in  keeping  with  his  failure  to  give  attention  to  detail. 
He  was  now,  however,  urgent  enough.  Monroe,  at  last  aroused 
to  the  necessity,  ordered  the  commandant  at  Fort  LaFayette, 
near  Pittsburg,  to  send  a  supply  immediately.  November  8th 
5,000  stands  were  sent  by  sail  boats  from  that  place  with  the 
expectation  that  they  would  arrive  in  twenty  days.  The  time 
was  ample,  but  the  captains  loitered  to  trade  and  the  delay  was 
fatal.  One  of  the  boats  was  fast  enough  to  fall  in  with  Carroll 
on  his  way  to  the  place  of  danger,  and  he  took  the  responsibility 
of  taking  1,100  stands  to  make  up  the  deficiency  in  his  command: 
the  rest  arrived  at  their  destination  after  the  battle  of  the  eighth.' 

Nor  was  Jackson  quite  correct  in  saying  that  he  had  only 
3,200  stands  at  the  time  of  the  battle.  The  regulars,  Carroll's 
men.  Coffee's  men,  the  Louisiana  militia,  and  1,000  of  the  Ken- 
tuckians,  over  6,000  in  all,  must  have  had  arms.  Besides,  the 
returns  of  his  ordnance  department  show  that  2,404  stands 
were  issued  from  December  i8th  till  January  8th.' 

Deficient  as  he  sometimes  was  in  the  science  of  warfare, 
he  was  nevertheless  an  excellent  fighter.  Wherever  he  fought, 
fighting  was  good.  Mutiny  frequently  appeared  in  his  camp 
because  of  the  great  exertion  he  demanded  of  his  men,  but  neither 
in  the  Creek  nor  in  the  New  Orleans  campaign  did  the  soldiers 
directly  under  his  authority  ever  flinch  on  the  field  of  battle. 
Had  he  been  present  on  the  west  bank  on  the  morning  of  January 
8th,  the  result,  doubtless,  would  have  been  less  humiliating. 
Good  officers,  as  he  wrote  down  in  his  journal,  will  make  good 
soldiers:'  his  own  influence  showed  the  truth  of  the  statement. 

General  Jackson's  qualities  made  a  good  impression  on  his 
opponents.     James,  the  British  historian  of  the  war,  says:  "He 

'Jackson  to  Carroll,  October  31;  Jackson  to  Monroe,  October  31,  1814;  Wollesley  to  Jackson,  November 
8, 1814;  Monroe  to  Blount,  November  3,  1814;  Jackson  Mss. 
'Jackson  Mss. 
'Jackson's  fragmentary  Journal,  January  i8,  1815,  Jackson  Mss. 


JANUARY  THE  EIGHTH,   1815  207 

proved  himself  at  New  Orleans,  not  only  an  able  general  for  the 
description  of  country  in  which  he  had  to  operate,  but,  in  all 
his  transactions  with  the  British  officers,  both  an  honorable, 
and  a  courteous  enemy.  In  his  official  despatches,  too,  he  has 
left  an  example  of  modesty,  worthy  of  imitation  by  the  generality 
of  American  commanders,  naval  as  well  as  military."*  The 
characterization  is  correct.  Jackson  had  a  strong  sense  of 
dignity.  When  his  antipathy  was  aroused,  he  was  most  perverse, 
stickling  over  punctilios,  blustering,  and  absolutely  wrong- 
headed,  but  under  normal  conditions  he  treated  his  antagonist 
with  the  consideration  of  a  brave  man,  who  is  not  afraid  to  be 
generous.  An  illustration  of  this  quahty  is  the  cordial  manner 
in  which  in  the  following  note  he  restored  the  sword  of  General 
Keane  who  requested  to  be  allowed  to  redeem  it: 

"The  general  conmianding  the  American  forces,  having 
learned  that  Major-General  Kean  of  the  British  army  had 
expressed  a  wish  for  the  restoration  of  his  sword,  lost  in  the 
action  of  the  eighth  of  January  in  consequence  of  a  wound,  feels 
great  satisfaction  in  ordering  it  to  be  returned  to  him.  Mr. 
Livingston,  one  of  his  volunteer  aids,  is  charged  with  the  delivery 
of  it.  The  undersigned,  feeling  for  the  misfortune  of  the  brave, 
begs  that  General  Kean  will  be  assured  of  his  wishes  for  his 
speedy  restoration."* 

Unfortunately,  many  things  happened  in  connection  with 
the  New  Orleans  campaign  which  illustrate  a  less  attractive 
side  of  Jackson's  character.  The  bountiful  crop  of  strife  which 
he  reaped  must  be  reserved  for  the  next  chapter. 

'James,  Military  Occurrences,  II.,  390. 

'Jackson  to  Geneial  Keane,  February  4;  G.  M.  Ogden  to  Jackson,  February  3, 1815;  Jackson  Mss. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW 

The  two  months  following  the  departure  of  the  British  on 
January  i8th  brought  Jackson  almost  as  much  anxiety  as  the 
two  months  preceding  it,  with  the  difference  that  it  was  due 
to  petty  rather  than  to  important  public  matters.  Although 
a  treaty  of  peace  between  England  and  the  United  States  was 
signed  by  the  commissioners  on  December  24,  1814,  news  of 
the  event  did  not  reach  New  York  until  February  11,  18 15, 
and  it  was  not  known  in  New  Orleans  until  it  arrived  by  way 
of  the  British  fleet  on  February  19th.  American  newspapers 
soon  confirmed  the  intelligence,  but  the  official  despatches  which 
ought  to  have  brought  the  news  to  Jackson  were  delayed  in  the 
post-office  so  long  that  it  was  not  until  March  13th  that  he  had 
advices  from  his  government.  The  interval  between  the  receipt 
of  unofficial  and  official  information  was  a  period  of  uncertainty. 
Jackson  properly  refused  to  reduce  his  strength  or  relax  his 
vigilance  until  he  knew  that  peace  was  made.  The  legislature 
and  many  of  the  people  of  Louisiana,  naturally  censorious, 
clamored  for  the  repeal  of  the  edict  proclaiming  martial  law  and 
for  the  dismissal  of  the  militia;  Governor  Claiborne  and  United 
States  Judge  Hall  were  drawn  into  the  affair;  and  an  unhappy 
state  of  confusion  followed  which  the  tactless  efforts  of  Jackson 
only  made  worse.  Along  with  the  consideration  of  these  facts  one 
must  observe  certain  final  stages  of  the  actual  campaign,  as  the 
attack  on  Fort  Bowyer,  and  the  punishment  of  a  notable  mutiny. 
All  these  events  bring  Jackson's  personality  into  prominence  and 
give  additional  basis  for  an  opinion  on  his  ability  as  a  public  man. 

208 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW         209 

After  the  first  attack  on  Fort  Bowyer,  September  15,  18 14, 
Jackson  ordered  its  defenses  to  be  strengthened,  taking  for 
that  purpose  a  number  of  heavy  cannon  from  New  Orleans. 
Major  Lawrence  was  left  in  command,  and  with  his  twenty-two 
guns  and  his  garrison  of  366  men  he  felt  sure  of  defending  the 
place  against  any  number  of  hostiles.  From  the  water  the  fort 
was,  indeed,  impregnable;  but  on  the  land  side  its  walls  were 
no  more  than  three  feet  thick  and  composed  of  an  earth  wall 
held  up  by  boards,  while  the  interior  was  without  cover  for 
the  gunners  or  any  other  means  of  protection  against  explosives 
thrown  into  the  enclosure.  Moreover,  certain  sand-mounds 
within  easy  range  offered  an  enemy  the  opportunity  of  securing, 
if  he  fortified  them,  absolute  command  of  the  position.  To 
defend  the  place,  therefore,  from  a  land  attack  there  must  be 
enough  force  to  hold  an  enemy  at  a  safe  distance  from  this  danger 
point.     A  thousand  troops  were  not  too  many  for  such  a  task. 

Lambert  arrived  with  the  British  army  at  Dauphine  Island 
on  February  6th,  determined  to  carry  his  arms  against  Mobile, 
and  his  first  concern  was  Fort  Bowyer.  He  saw  that  the  place 
could  not  be  taken  from  the  water  and  decided  to  invest  it. 
For  this  duty  he  selected  the  second  brigade,  then  about  twelve 
hundred  men  strong,'  which  early  on  the  eighth  landed  on  the 
peninsula  two  and  a  half  miles  east  of  the  fort.  It  was  supported 
by  artillerists,  sappers  and  miners,  and  marines,  making  probably 
as  many  as  450  in  this  auxiliary  force.  Its  first  step  was  to 
establish  a  line  across  the  peninsula  in  order  to  cut  off  possi- 
ble reinforcements  from  the  mainland.  The  garrison  withdrew 
into  their  defenses  and  the  British  approached  within  three 
hundred  yards  of  the  walls.  They  began  parallels,  seized  the 
sand-mounds,  constructed  batteries  which  the  American  gunners 

'The  British  returns  of  captured  made  the  garrison  375,  but  the  American  authorities  speak  of  them  as 
366.     See  James,  Military  Occurrences,  II.,  573;  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  Appendix,  number  38. 

'Composed  of  the  4th,  jist,  and  44th  regiments,  which  had  1974  men  before  January  8.  On  that  day,  they 
lost  1089;  if  half  of  their  wounded  were  recovered,  they  now  had  1170.  James,  Military  Occurrences,  II., 
373.  555- 


2IO  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

could  not  destroy  by  using  their  severest  fire,  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  eleventh  had  four  eighteen-pounders  and  two  eight- 
inch  howitzers  trained  on  the  fort  at  a  distance  of  loo  yards, 
besides  ten  smaller  pieces  at  a  distance  of  300  yards  or  less. 
At  ten  o'clock  Lambert  sent  forward  a  flag  of  truce  with  a  demand 
that  the  fort  surrender.  Lawrence  conferred  with  his  officers, 
asked  for  time  to  consider,  and  in  the  afternoon  agreed  to  sur- 
render on  the  following  day.  With  the  fort  and  garrison 
went  twenty-eight  pieces  of  artillery,  351  stands  of  arms,  and  an 
ample  supply  of  ammunition.  The  loss  of  the  British  in  killed 
and  wounded  was  twenty-one;  that  of  the  Americans  was  eleven.' 

The  easy  capture  of  Fort  Bowyer  was  largely  due  to  the  negli- 
gence of  Winchester,  who  at  this  time  had  been  for  tv/o  and  a 
half  months  in  command  at  Mobile  mth  ample  forces  to  guard 
it.  It  was  his  duty  to  protect  it  or  abandon  it,  and  he  did 
neither.  It  was  not  until  the  tenth  that  he  ordered  Major 
Blue,  with  1,200  whites  and  Indians,  to  go  to  the  aid  of  the 
garrison.  Contrary  winds  kept  them  back  so  that  they  did  not 
arrive  until  the  twelfth.'  Some  one  was  to  blame,  also,  for 
the  short  supply  of  provisions  in  the  fort,  and  the  unprepared 
state  of  the  defenses  on  the  land  side. 

As  to  Jackson's  responsibility,  it  is  certain  that  he  did  not 
realize  the  danger  in  which  Mobile  stood.  In  spite  of  his  former 
predilection  for  the  place,  he  gave  it  little  attention  after  he 
arrived  in  New  Orleans.  One  thing  at  a  time  was  his  way. 
When  the  enemy  left  Cat  Island  he  assumed  they  were  bound 
for  Bermuda  to  await  orders  and  hastily  forwarded  his  reassur- 
ing opinion  to  Winchester.  January  30th,  he  wrote  again  to 
his  subordinate,  "I  have  no  idea  that  the  enemy  will  attempt 
Fort  Bowyer  on  your  quarter,  still  you  cannot  be  too  well  pre- 
pared   and    too    vigilant."' 

^Laitoui, Historical  Memoir,  207,  Appendices,  39,  40,  49,  46;  Reid  and  Eaton,  Jackson,  400;  James,  J/«7itery 
Occurrences,  II.,  391,  570-575;  Gleig,  Campaigns  in  America,  351;  Niles,  RegisUr.  VII.,  32,  58. 
!Niles,  Register,  VII.,  32,  58. 
'Jackson  to  Winchester,  January  ig  and  30,  1815,  Jackson  Mss. 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW        211 

The  loss  of  Fort  Bowyer  was  particularly  disappointing  after 
the  brilliant  affair  at  New  Orleans,  and  Jackson  felt  it  very 
keenly.  With  the  same  kind  of  excited  judgment  which  pre- 
cipitated the  quarrel  with  the  Kentuckians  he  criticized  Law- 
rence in  his  report  for  surrendering  before  the  enemy  fired  a 
round  from  the  commanding  batteries.  Lawrence  felt  the 
injustice  of  the  charge  and  demanded  an  inquir}^,  which  was 
granted:   the  result  was  complete  vindication.' 

Jackson  began  to  plan  to  retake  the  fort  as  soon  as  he  knew 
of  its  fall.  February  21st,  he  received  from  Admiral  Cochrane 
a  note  enclosing  a  copy  of  a  bulletin  received  from  Jamaica 
containing  an  account  of  the  peace  signed  at  Ghent  on  Decem- 
ber 24th,  and  with  it  the  admiral's  congratulations.  Nothing 
was  said  about  suspension  of  hostilities  pending  the  receipt  of 
official  intelligence,  and  Jackson  in  his  reply  inquired  on  what 
footing  the  admiral  was  pleased  to  consider  the  two  armies 
since  the  receipt  of  the  information.  While  thus  appearing 
to  give  full  credence  to  the  information,  he  privately  professed 
to  see  in  it  the  possibihty  of  a  ruse  and  wrote  to  Mcintosh,  who 
was  about  to  supersede  Winchester,  to  suggest  that  they  unite 
their  forces  and  expel  the  British  from  Mobile  Bay  and  thus  wipe 
out  the  stain  of  the  surrender  of  Fort  Bowyer.  He  believed  it 
could  be  done  since  the  combined  forces  would  be  double  what 
he  had  at  New  Orleans  when  he  repelled  the  attack  of  this  same 
British  army.'  It  was  a  piece  of  thoughtless  bravery,  and  a  mo- 
ment's reflection  must  have  convinced  him  that  if  the  peace 
rumor  were  true  the  position  would  be  given  up  without  loss  of 
life.  If  it  proved  untrue  it  would  still  be  very  difficult  for  the 
6,000  Americans  now  in  Mobile  to  protect  the  town  and  recover 
the  fort  into  which  the  enemy  could  place  2,000  men  and  still 
have  left  for  operations  against  the  town  more  men  than  the 

'Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  Appendix,  number  40. 

^Jackson  to  Mcintosh,  February  27,  i8is,  Jackson  Mss.;  also  his  proclamation,  February  19,  i8is;  Latour, 
Historical  Memoir,  Appendix  41. 


212  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

whole  American  army  contained,  and  this  over  and  above  their 
advantage  from  the  control  of  the  bay.  Jackson  was  no  doubt 
in  a  tortured  frame  of  mind.  To  Governor  Holmes,  of  Missis- 
sippi, he  wrote  on  February  21st:  "I  am  prepared  for  anything 
war  or  peace.  If  an  honorable  peace  I  hail  it  with  heartfelt 
satisfaction:  if  dishonorable  it  will  meet  my  hearty  imprecations. 
But  the  Lord's  will  be  done.  The  fall  of  Fort  Bowyer  is  truly 
grating  to  my  feelings." '  He  was  accustomed  to  demand  of  his 
subordinates  the  most  implicit  obedience,  but  he  rarely  showed 
the  same  spirit  toward  his  own  superiors. 

On  the  very  day  he  received  Cochrane's  announcement  of 
peace  the  six  mutinous  militiamen  met  their  fate  at  Mobile. 
This  event,  which  was  in  itself  only  a  matter  of  army  discipline 
and  created  no  criticism  at  the  time,  was  later  utilized  by 
Jackson's  political  enemies  to  oppose  his  election.  The  inci- 
dent is  related  as  follows: 

In  the  spring  of  18 14,  the  governor  of  Tennessee,  under  the 
authority  of  the  secretary  of  war,  called  out  1,000  drafted 
militia  for  garrison  duty  in  the  Creek  country,  specifying  in 
the  call  that  they  should  serve  six  months  from  June  20th,  the 
date  of  mustering  in.  When  the  commander  of  the  division 
arrived  at  Fort  Jackson  in  July,  18 14,  he  found  the  place  in  a 
neglected  condition:  he  rather  abruptly  ordered  the  garrison 
on  fatigue  duty,  to  cut  down  trees,  remove  undergrowth, 
open  ditches,  and  do  the  other  similar  things  necessary  to  make 
a  new  site  habitable  and  defensible.  Along  with  this  came  the 
dog  days  with  much  of  the  dreaded  "Coosa  fever,"  and  the 
result  was  a  great  deal  of  dissatisfaction  among  the  men  at 
Forts  Jackson,  Strother,  and  Williams. 

As  in  the  preceding  autumn,  the  discontent  crystallized  into 
a  claim  that  the  tour  of  duty  of  the  militia  was  three,  instead 
of  six,  months.     By  clever  arguments  a  doubt  was  thrown  on 

'Jackson  to  Governor  Holmes,  February  21, 1815,  Jackson  Mss. 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW         213 

the  governor's  right  to  call  them  out  for  six  months,  but  the 
matter  was  never  anything  but  a  case  for  judicial  determination, 
and  the  governor's  action  from  the  standpoint  of  the  objectors 
was  not  void  but  voidable.  The  remedy  of  the  militia,  if  a 
wrong  was  done  them,  was  in  the  courts  and  not  in  mutiny. 

The  garrison  at  Fort  Jackson  belonged  to  the  ist  regiment 
of  West  Tennessee  militia,  commanded  by  Colonel  Pipkin,  and 
as  September  20th  approached,  they  became  particularly  de- 
monstrative. All  the  experiences  of  Fort  Strother  in  the  dis- 
tressful days  of  November  and  December,  1813^  were  repeated. 
Some  of  the  officers  supported  the  demands  of  the  men.  On 
the  night  of  September  2d,  the  following  lines  were  attached 
to  the  gate-post  of  the  fort: 

Look  below  we  are  the  Boys, 
That  fear  no  Noise, 
Nor  Orders  that  we  hear. 
Eighteen  days  more, 
And  then  we  go, 
Or  be  found  in  gore, 
And  never  come  here  no  more, 
To  suffer  as  we  and  many  others  have  Before. 
Liberty  Street.' 

September  14th,  there  was  an  open  demonstration  of  the  dis- 
contented ones.  A  few  of  them  got  a  fife  and  drum  and  beat 
up  and  down  the  lines  till  they  drew  to  them  nearly  two  hundred 
others.  Then  they  seized  a  quantity  of  bread  and  set  the 
bread  house  on  fire,  while  threatening  to  take  stores  and  cattle 
and  march  back  to  Tennessee.' 

A  leader  of  this  group  was  John  Harris,  a  Baptist  preacher 
who  was  nearly  as  illiterate  as  the  others.  His  influence  as 
a  minister  ought  to  have  been  more  worthily  exerted  than  in 
promoting   disobedience;  but   having   convinced   himself   that 


^Enclosed  in  Colonel  Pipkin  to  Jackson,  September  4,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
^Thomas  Hoagland  to  Jackson,  September  15, 1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


214  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

a  tour  of  duty  ought  to  be  three  months,  he  took  the  law  into 
his  own  hands  and  went  about  with  a  Ust  of  men  who  were  pledged 
to  go  home.  On  September  20th,  he  and  200  others  set  out 
for  Tennessee,  where  some  of  them  arrived  in  due  time.  But 
the  majority  were  met  and  arrested  by  the  reinforcements  on 
their  way  to  the  front  and  carried  back  to  Fort  Jackson.  Harris 
and  a  few  others  of  those  who  reached  their  homes  learned  the 
fate  of  their  comrades  and  went  back  of  their  own  accord  to 
stand  trial,  so  convinced  were  they  of  their  innocence. 

This  reappearance  of  the  spirit  of  mutiny  at  a  time  when 
invasion  was  threatened  exasperated  the  higher  officers  of  the 
army.  Col.  Robert  Butler,  adjutant-general,  in  sending  the 
arrested  ones  to  Fort  Jackson  expressed  the  hope  that  they 
would  be  ordered  to  Mobile  and  said  to  Jackson:  "The  rascals 
should  be  taught  what  it  is  to  disgrace  the  state  and  the  Ameri- 
can character.  You  can  manage  them  when  there  in  perfec- 
tion.'" 

Jackson  did,  in  fact,  order  the  regiment  to  Mobile,  and  as 
he  was  departing  for  New  Orleans  appointed  a  court-martial 
composed  of  ofhcers  of  the  Tennessee  militia  to  try  the  muti- 
neers. The  hearing  began  on  December  5th.  From  the  be- 
ginning there  was  no  doubt  of  the  guilt  of  the  accused.  The 
only  question  was,  should  their  honest  opinion  that  they  were 
bound  for  a  three  months'  tour  of  duty  be  taken  as  an  extenuat- 
ing circumstance?  The  court,  whose  members  were  serving 
under  the  same  law  as  the  accused,  took  a  negative  view  of 
the  matter.  All  the  prisoners  to  the  number  of  205  were  con- 
victed: six  of  them  were  condemned  to  death,  and  the  others 
to  penalties  less  severe.  Jackson  kept  the  verdict  in  his  hands 
during  the  trying  days  of  the  British  stay  below  New  Orleans 
and  finally  approved  it  on  January  28th,  a  week  after  the  evacua- 
tion of  the  British  camp.     On  February  21st,  just  as  the  rumor 

'Butler  to  Jackson.  September  it,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  AIARTIAL  LAW         215 

of  peace  began  to  circulate  on  the  coast,  the  six  unhappy  miHtia- 
men  were  shot,  dying  firmly  and  protesting  their  innocence  of 
wrong  intention.' 

Jackson  approved  of  the  finding  of  the  court-martial,  but  he 
was  not  responsible  for  it.  It  is  not  charged  that  he  tried 
to  influence  it.  The  weight  of  the  allegation  against  him  is 
that  he  did  not  modify  the  sentence.  He  ought  to  have  done 
this  if  he  believed  the  good  of  the  service  demanded  it.  But 
he  might  well  believe  that  the  good  of  the  service  demanded 
that  the  spirit  of  mutiny  be  suppressed  and  that  the  militia 
be  taught  that  it  was  not  for  them  to  interpret  their  rights 
under  the  law  at  the  risk  of  demoralizing  the  defense  of  the 
nation.  But  for  the  later  political  agitation  the  matter  would 
have  been  forgotten.  The  case  of  Harris  appealed  to  the  agi- 
tators especially:  they  believed  that  it  would  arouse  the 
indignation  of  the  Baptists,  who  were  numerous  in  some  of  the 
doubtful  states.  The  whole  affair  is  only  interesting  as  a  mani- 
kin which  has  been  made  to  play  a  part  in  a  past  political  struggle. 

While  the  career  of  the  six  militiaman  was  drawing  to  a  close 
at  Mobile,  Jackson  became  involved  in  a  blazing  quarrel  with 
several  persons  and  groups  of  persons  in  New  Orleans.  In  this 
affair  one  event  followed  another  with  increasing  effect  until 
the  situation  was  acute;  but  probably  the  most  important 
cause  was  Jackson's  sensitive  temper  which  would  glow  at 
the  slightest  blowing.  When  he  arrived  in  the  city,  conditions, 
it  is  true,  were  abnormal,  but  they  were  not  so  bad  but  that 
a  wise  administrator  could  get  along  without  a  quarrel  with 
legislature,  governor,  and  United  States  courts. 

When  Jackson  appeared,  the  legislature  was  generally  loyal. 
Its  quarrel  with  Claiborne  was  suppressed,  but  probably  not 
forgotten.  The  Creoles,  in  the  assembly  and  out,  while  not 
enthusiastic  for  a  war  to  perpetuate  American  control,  were 

■Parton,  Jackson,  II.,  chapter  22,  deals  fully  with  the  execution  of  the  militiamen. 


2i6  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

supporting  it  without  difficulty.  The  state's  quota  of  drafted 
militia  was  i,ooo  and  these  were  in  the  field  by  the  time  Jackson 
arrived  in  New  Orleans,  to  say  nothing  of  more  than  five  hundred 
volunteers.  After  the  British  landed,  the  reserve  militia  was 
called  out  and  responded  to  the  number  of  several  hundred.' 
The  legislature  voted  liberal  sums  to  clothe  the  Tennessee  militia' 
and  they  promised  to  furnish  Negroes  to  work  on  the  fortifica- 
tions, although  it  seems  that  the  United  States  paid  wages  to 
the  masters.'  This  attitude  on  the  face  indicates  complaisance, 
although  it  was  Jackson's  opinion  after  the  controversy  was 
acute  that  they  were  not  genuinely  cordial.  "On  my  arrival," 
he  said,  "I  was  flattered  by  the  greetings  of  all;  and  while  I 
returned  to  all  the  salute  of  entire  confidence,  I  must  own  that 
I  manifested  somewhat  more  than  I  felt.  .  .  .  Notwith- 
standing the  great  unanimity  which  appears,  very  generally  to 
have  prevailed  among  the  inhabitants  since  my  arrival,  I  am 
fearful  that  if  reverses  had  overtaken  us,  or  if  disaffection  could 
have  hoped  for  favor  I  should  have  been  compelled  to  witness 
a  very  different  scene  —  I  am  fearful  I  should  have  witnessed 
it,  where  it  ought  least  to  have  been  looked  for.'" 

The  refusal  of  the  legislature  to  adjourn  after  the  capture 
of  the  gunboats  led  Jackson  to  declare  martial  law,  and  in 
doing  so  he  expressed  his  intention  to  remain  master  of  the  situa- 
tion. A  week  later  the  British  surprised  him  by  landing  at 
Villere's.  Taking  this  fact  in  connection  with  his  inexperience 
many  of  the  natives  concluded  that  he  had  little  military  capacity. 
At  this  time  a  rumor  began  to  run  through  the  city  that  he  in- 
tended, if  forced  to  fall  back,  to  burn  the  town  and  its  large 
store  of  produce  rather  than  have  them  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.     The  citizens  were  alarmed  and  began  to  think  of 

'Claiborne  to  Jackson,  November  20.  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
•Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  141,  note. 
^Jackson  to  Monroe,  December  10,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
^Jackson  to  Monroe,  February  17,  1815,  Jackson  Mss. 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW       217 

their  property.  Some  of  them  asked  Capt.  Thomas  L.  Butler, 
then  in  command  in  the  place,  what  were  his  orders  if  compelled 
to  evacuate  the  city.  Butler  refused  to  divulge  his  commands, 
and  the  ill-feeling  increased.  The  citizens  thought  that  the 
refusal  confirmed  their  suspicions:  Jackson  believed  that  the 
demand  was  made  in  connection  with  some  concerted  plan  of 
action  to  save  their  property,  by  making  terms  with  the  enemy. 
The  successful  check  of  the  British  in  the  night  battle  alleviated 
the  popular  alarm,  but  it  did  not  destroy  it. 

It  was,  in  fact,  destined  to  have  an  early  resurgence.  De- 
cember 27th,  Colonel  Declouet,  a  prominent  and  loyal  Creole 
citizen,  and  commander  of  a  militia  regiment  then  in  service, 
had  an  interview  with  Speaker  Guichard,  of  the  house  of  rep- 
resentatives. The  testimony  of  the  two  in  a  later  investigation 
differs  as  to  what  was  said  in  this  conversation ;  but  it  is  evident 
that  Declouet  carried  away  the  opinion  that,  if  Jackson  were 
defeated,  the  legislature  would  try  to  make  terms  with  the  British 
rather  than  have  their  city  destroyed.  He  seems  to  have 
thought,  also,  that  some  steps  would  be  taken  by  the  leaders 
on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth.  That  was  the  morning 
when  the  enemy  made  their  first  demonstration  against  the 
American  lines.  It  passed  with  great  anxiety  in  New  Orleans, 
for  it  was  not  believed  that  Jackson  could  hold  his  lines,  then 
not  more  than  half  complete.  Declouet,  full  of  the  common 
terror  and  weighed  down  by  the  secret  he  had  gained  from  the 
speaker,  rode  to  the  camp  to  confide  his  opinion  secretly  to  the 
commander-in-chief.  When  near  there  he  met  Abner  Duncan, 
one  of  Jackson's  several  volunteer  aides,  a  New  Orleans  lawyer 
of  prominence,  and  through  him  sent  his  message  to  Jackson. 
Duncan  had  the  misfortune  to  twist  the  words  of  his  informant. 
Jackson  declared  that  as  he  was  riding  across  the  field  of  battle, 
just  before  the  advance  of  the  enemy,  he  noticed  Duncan  much 
agitated,  and  asking  the  cause  of  agitation  the  aide  replied  that 


2i8  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

the  governor  had  sent  a  message  to  the  effect  that  the  legislature 
was  about  to  make  terms  with  the  enemy.  The  general  ex- 
pressed doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  statement,  but  sent 
word  to  Claiborne,  quoting  from  his  statement  to  the  legislature, 
"to  make  strict  inquiry  into  the  subject;  and  if  true  to  blow 
them  up."*  Riding  away  on  this  mission  Duncan  soon  met 
Colonel  Fortier,  aide  to  Governor  Claiborne,  and  by  him  for- 
warded the  message.  But  he  softened  the  words  somewhat. 
Fortier  returned  toward  the  city,  but  met  Claiborne  on  his  way 
to  the  camp  and  said  to  him:  "Major-General  Jackson  has 
received  the  information  that  the  legislature  is  on  the  point  of 
assembling  to  give  up  the  country.  His  orders  are  that  the 
governor  should  immediately  close  the  doors  of  the  state  house, 
surround  it  with  guards,  and  fire  on  the  members  should  they 
persist  in  assembling."  Claiborne  was  surprised  at  the  in- 
formation, but  executed  the  instructions  without  delay.  Here 
we  have  an  important  matter  transferred  from.  Guichard  to 
Declouet,  then  to  Duncan,  then  to  Jackson  with  his  orders  back 
to  Duncan,  then  to  Fortier,  and  finally  to  Claiborne;  and  at 
no  stage  in  the  process  is  it  reduced  to  writing.  All  of  these 
men  gave  evidence  of  what  was  said  to  them,  and  no  two  state- 
ments agree.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  they  were  all  in  an  agitated 
frame  of  mind  that  December  morning.  It  is  evident,  also, 
that  Jackson  spoke  truly  when  he  said  that  his  orders  were 
"to  blow  them  up,"  and  Duncan,  more  level-headed  at  the  mo- 
ment, was  justified  in  modifying  the  command  to  simple  ex- 
clusion from  the  legislative  hall. 

December  29th,  the  exclusion  was  revoked  and  the  legislature, 
humiliated  and  angry,  resumed  its  sittings.  Its  first  action 
was  to  appoint  a  committee  to  investigate  recent  events.  Feb- 
ruary 6th,  a  report  was  adopted  exonerating  the  body  from 

'Jackson's  testimony  is  quoted  in  Gayarre,  History  of  Louisiana,  IV.,  540:  it  is  confirmed  by  Plaucb^  to 
Phillips,  January  17,  1843,  Jackson  Mss. 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW         219 

treasonable  designs.  At  the  bottom  of  its  lengthy  testimony 
and  diffuse  summing  up  one  finds  no  reason  to  think  that  the 
assembly  were  willing  to  surrender  to  the  British  without  a 
battle.  It  is  also  evident  that  there  was  great  anxiety  among 
the  people  and  legislators  in  regard  to  the  general  conviction 
that  Jackson  was  prepared  to  destroy  much  property  to  prevent 
its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  the  legislature 
was  disposed  to  prevent  this.  But  it  is  difficult  to  see  where 
they  could  draw  the  line  between  loyalty  and  treason.  A 
capitulation  when  Jackson  was  in  full  flight  would  modify  Httle 
the  conduct  of  either  the  British  or  American  General.  A 
capitulation  made  before  that  time  would  not  be  accepted 
by  Jackson;  it  would  disorganize  the  American  resistance,  and 
it  would,  in  fact,  be  disloyalty.' 

It  is  likely  that  Jackson  would  have  destroyed  the  large 
amount  of  stores  in  the  city,  if  forced  to  evacuate  it,  so  as  to 
make  the  place  as  useless  as  possible  to  the  enemy  in  a  military 
sense.  The  burning  of  Moscow  was  then  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  men,  and  strenuous  patriots  like  Jackson  regarded  it  as  a 
most  praiseworthy  deed.  In  1824,  he  gave  an  account  of  an 
interview  at  this  time  with  a  delegation  who  came  from  the 
legislature  to  his  camp  to  learn  his  intention  in  regard  to  burning 
the  city.  He  says:  "To  them  I  rephed:  'If  I  thought  the 
hair  of  my  head  knew  my  thoughts,  I  would  cut  it  off  and  burn 
it '  —  to  return  to  their  honorable  body,  and  say  to  them  from 
me,  that  if  I  was  to  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  driven  from  the 
lines  I  then  occupied,  and  compelled  to  retreat  through  New 
Orleans,  they  would  have  a  warm  session  of  it.'" 

At  this  stage  the  quarrel  with  the  legislature  merges  into 
a  controversy  with  the  governor.    At  first  Jackson  and  Clai- 

"For  a  discussion  of  this  incident  see  Martin,  History  of  Louisiana,  passim,  and  Gayane,  IV.,  S39-S77i 
who  is  more  judicious. 

'Jackson  to  the  postmaster  general,  March  a2. 1824;  Affidavit  of  T.  L.  Butler,  May  23,  i8is  ;  Jackson  Mss. 
Gayane,  Louisiana,  IV.,  563. 


220  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

borne  cooperated  cordially;  but  after  martial  law  was  pro- 
claimed on  December  i6th,  they  became  less  harmonious. 
Claiborne,  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia,  now  found  him- 
self subordinate  to  a  man  whose  nature  it  was  to  demand  im- 
plicit obedience.  Probably  without  realizing  it,  the  governor 
reacted  against  his  own  occultation,  while  conscious  that  he 
gave  himself  unreservedly  to  the  defense  of  the  state.  A  sense 
of  wounded  dignity,  a  rather  morbid  disposition  to  make  a  virtue 
of  self-effacement,  and  various  intermittent  fits  of  self-assertion 
all  united  to  put  him  into  an  agitated  state  of  mind. 
Jackson,  in  the  meantime,  always  self-satisfied,  bending 
himself  and  all  others  whom  he  could  reach  to  the  one  task 
before  him,  caring  little  for  the  feelings  or  foibles  of  others, 
moved  forward  imperiously  and  even  contemptuously  —  when 
he  might  have  well  shown  some  forbearance  —  and  thus  at  last 
the  governor  forgot  his  old  political  enemies  and  came  to  sup- 
port the  legislature  in  the  struggle  against  military  domination. 

Claiborne  attributed  his  loss  of  favor  to  the  influence  of 
the  volunteer  aides,  whom  Jackson  appointed  on  December  17th, 
all  former  enemies  of  the  governor.  "These  men,"  he  said  at 
the  time,  "will  do  me  much  harm  if  the  General  suffers  himself 
to  be  imposed  upon."  Claiborne  soon  found  confirmation  of 
his  suspicions.  December  23d,  while  troops  were  hurrying 
to  meet  the  British  at  Villere's  plantation,  the  governor,  of  his 
own  initiative,  set  out  for  the  front  at  the  head  of  three  Louisiana 
regiments.  He  was  met  by  an  order  from  the  general  to  take 
position  on  the  Gentilly  Road.  He  comphed,  but  considered 
the  order  part  of  a  plan  to  keep  him  in  the  background.' 

The  first  evidence  of  a  strained  relation  is  in  a  letter  from 
Claiborne  to  Jackson,  December  22,  18 14.  "r/?e  times  require 
our  union,"  says  the  governor,  "nor  is  there  anything  I  more 
desire  than  to  maintain  with  you,  the  most  friendly  under- 


iGayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  596. 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW         221 

standing,  and  a  cooperation  zealous  and  cordial.  With  this 
object  in  view  I  request  of  you  a  private  interview  on  this  day, 
at  such  hour  as  may  suit  your  convenience.'" 

Jackson's  reply,  if  he  made  one,  is  not  preserved  in  his  papers; 
but  the  governor  continued  to  cooperate  as  cordially  as  possible. 
With  the  general,  Claiborne  pledged  his  joint  credit  to  buy 
blankets  for  the  soldiers.'  Until  January  17th,  he  remained 
in  command  of  the  Louisiana  militia  encamped  on  the  Gentilly 
Road;  and  after  that  date  he  assumed  command  of  the  state 
militia  on  the  west  bank  and  maintained  a  semblance  of  order 
in  that  quarter  until  the  disappearance  of  danger.*  Jackson's 
attitude  toward  him  was  unbending,  and  when  during  the 
battle  of  January  8th,  the  governor  was  found  in  safety  at  the 
hospital  he  took  pleasure  in  attributing  it  to  cowardice.* 

As  military  affairs  lost  some  of  their  prominence  the  civil 
government  began  to  think  of  resuming  its  functions.  But 
Jackson  continued  to  exercise  martial  law  with  its  absolute 
authority,  always  strengthening  the  defenses  of  the  city,  and 
embodying  the  reserved  militia  till  at  the  end  of  January  he  had 
twice  as  many  armed  men  as  on  the  eighth  of  the  month.  The 
prolongation  of  martial  law  was  borne  without  open  protest 
by  the  civil  authorities  until  the  receipt  of  unofBcial  information 
of  the  treaty  of  peace;  but  there  was  suppressed  friction  and 
in  regard  to  the  recovery  of  the  slaves  an  explosion  seemed  for 
some  time  to  be  imminent. 

While  the  British  were  before  New  Orleans,  199  slaves  took 
refuge  on  the  fleet  expecting  to  be  carried  away  on  it."  This 
must  have  been  done  with  the  consent  of  some  higher  officers, 
although  General  Lambert,  whose  generally  honorable  conduct 

ijackson  Mss. 

•Claiborne  to  Jackson,  December  22,  1814,  Jackson  Mss. 
•Claiborne  to  Jackson,  January  16  and  17,  1815,  Jackson  Mss. 

*T.  L.  Butler  to  Claiborne,  December  31, 1814;  certificates  of  Dr.  Eer  and  Major  Davezac,  April  6,  x  8x$, 
Jackson  Mss. 
'Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  511. 


222  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

entitles  him  to  full  credence,  said  that  he  knew  nothing  of  it 
until  he  returned  to  the  fleet  after  he  evacuated  his  camp  at 
Villere's  plantation.  He  immediately  wrote  to  Jackson  saying 
he  had  taken  pains  to  persuade  the  Negroes  to  return  to  their 
homes  and  offering  to  deliver  them  to  their  masters  if  the  fugitives 
could  be  got  to  return  voluntarily.  He  said  that  as  the  British 
law  did  not  recognize  slavery  he  did  not  feel  authorized  to  force 
them  to  leave  against  their  wills.'  Jackson  replied  immediately 
and  appointed  Captain  Henly  to  receive  the  slaves,  but  nothing 
was  done  and  unofficial  information  led  him  to  believe  that 
their  surrender  was  hardly  to  be  hoped  for.  Early  in  February, 
he  sent  Edward  Livingston  and  Manuel  White  to  receive  the 
fugitives,  but  Lambert  would  not  force  the  slaves  to  depart  and 
all  the  messengers  could  say  would  not  lead  them  to  give  up  the 
near  prospect  of  freedom.  From  that  time  there  was  much 
correspondence  between  the  two  commanders  on  the  subject, 
but  nothing  was  gained.  The  Americans  claimed  that  the  clause 
in  the  treaty  for  the  restoration  of  property  would  apply  to  the 
slaves,  and  the  British  asserted  that  they  could  not  recognize 
the  slaves  as  property  but  as  individuals  who  came  voluntarily 
into  the  British  lines.'  The  matter  was  afterward  referred  to 
arbitration  by  Russia,  who  on  the  interpretation  of  the  treaty 
gave  judgment  for  the  United  States.' 

Negotiations  with  the  British  army  properly  fell  within  the 
scope  of  the  military  authority,  but  the  civil  government  was 
not  able  to  keep  hands  off  when  the  recovery  of  the  slaves 
was  at  stake.  January  31st,  a  week  after  Jackson  first  wrote 
to  Lambert  on  the  subject,  he  received  a  letter  from  Claiborne 

■Lambert  to  Jackson,  January  20,  1815,  Jackson  Mss. 

The  following  letters  on  this  subject  are  in  the  appendix  of  Latour,  Historical  Memoir,  at  the  pages  indi- 
cated, and  those  noted  with  a  J  are  in  the  Jackson  Mss.:  Jackson  to  Lambert,  March  7,  page  09;  March  13, 
page  100;  Lambert  to  Jackson,  February  8,  page  82  and  J;  February  27,  page  93  and  J;  March  18,  page  120 
and  J:  Jackson  to  Cochrane,  February  20,  page  85  and  J:  Woodruff  to  Jackson,  March  23,  page  119  and  J. 
See  also  Jackson  to  Lambert,  February  4,  Jackson  Mss.  All  these  letters  are  dated  1815.  See  also  Gayarre 
History  of  Louisiana,  IV.,  511. 

'Moore,  Inttrnational  Arbilralion,  I.,  chapter   XL,  pages  sso-SOO- 


''1^»^£./;.^...^,^... ..  2,^,,,.  ,^.^  -^ 


^., 


/■^     ^    '-       -'•'-!    r    .--ij    ^^       ^^^    .   ^..   ,  .    4 


^  C  y     y 


'/ 


4 


^j 


ANDREW  JACKSON  IN    1815.       AGE  48 

From  a  miniature  on  ivory  by  Jean  Franfois  Vallee.     It  was  painted  in  New  Orleans  just  after  the  victory  over 
the  British.     The  artist,  a  Frenchman,  has  managed  to  give  his  subject  a  Napoleonic  countenance 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW        223 

asking  what  was  accomplished  in  the  matter  and  saying  that 
he  himself  would  make  application  by  three  distinguished 
citizens.  Jackson  resented  this  interference  and  caused  his 
adjutant-general  to  write  a  stiff  reply  announcing  Henly's 
appointment  and  adding  that  it  seemed  that  nothing  would 
be  done  by  the  British.  Claiborne  laid  the  correspondence 
before  the  legislature,  which  approved  of  his  course  and  ap- 
pointed a  commission  of  four  members  to  make  personal  appli- 
cation to  Lambert.'  Aroused  by  this  prospect  of  two  negotia- 
tions Jackson  hurried  off  Livingston  and  White,  as  has  been  said, 
and  we  hear  nothing  more  of  the  plans  of  the  civil  authorities. 
But  he  let  it  be  known  that  he  would  have  no  meddling.  "Be 
assured,"  he  said  to  Claiborne,  "if  either  the  assembly  or  yourself 
attempt  to  interfere  with  subjects  not  belonging  to  you,  it  will 
be  immediately  arrested.  I  am  pledged  for  the  protection  of 
this  District,  having  the  responsibility  I  trust  I  know  my  duty 
and  will  perform  it."' 

Just  at  this  time  the  legislature  was  completing  its  investi- 
gation of  its  suspension  on  December  28th.  Jackson  probably 
thought  that  they  were  about  to  deal  severely  with  him,  for, 
on  February  6th,  in  a  sharp  note  to  the  governor,  he  demanded 
a  copy  of  the  report  they  were  about  to  make,  repeating  his 
demand  two  days  later  and  threatening,  if  it  were  not  complied 
with,  to  hold  an  investigation  himself.'  The  menace  was  prob- 
ably intended  to  induce  the  legislature  to  make  a  mild  report; 
and  if  that  was  the  purpose  it  succeeded.  When  the  report 
was  handed  to  him  on  the  fifteenth'  it  completely  exonerated 
Jackson  and  threw  the  blame  on  other  shoulders.  Not  even 
the  benign  Gayarre  is  able  to  reconcile  it  with  the  known  atti- 
tude of  the  assembly  at  that  time  toward  the  commander  of 

iClaibome  to  Jackson,  February  4,  i8is,  Jackson  Mss. 

'Jackson  to  Claiborne,  February  3,  i8is,  Jackson  Mss. 

'Jackson  to  Claiborne,  February  8,  1815,  Jackson  Mss.     Gayarre,  Louisiana,  TV.,  SSS. 

♦Secretary  Louisiana   senate  to  Jackson,  February  15,  1815,  Jackson  Mss. 


224  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

the  seventh  military  district/  The  situation  seems  more  singular 
when  we  remember  that  on  February  2d,  the  assembly  voted 
its  thanks  to  every  prominent  contributor  to  the  recent  success 
but  the  chief  one.  When  Carroll,  Adair,  Coffee,  and  Thomas 
received  this  token  of  public  appreciation  and  Jackson  received 
no  notice,  the  omission  was  too  pointed  to  be  misunderstood. 

The  assembly  adjourned  early  in  February,  and  its  quarrel, 
soon  forgotten,  was  followed  by  trouble  of  another  kind.  Jack- 
son would  not  disband  the  army  whUe  the  enemy  were  in  force 
on  the  coast.  The  Tennesseeans  and  Kentuckians  did  not 
complain  of  this  lengthened  service,  but  the  volatile  Louisi- 
anians  bore  it  with  impatience.  The  reserved  militia  were 
first  dissatisfied,  and  the  governor  appealed  to  Jackson  to  dis- 
charge them.'  The  detached  militia  manifested  their  feeling 
by  leaving  their  commands  with  or  without  leave  until  companies 
were  reduced  to  mere  skeletons.  A  sharp  reprimand  from  Jack- 
son checked  the  practice,  but  did  not  remove  its  cause.  Soon  the 
Creoles  thought  of  another  expedient.  Repairing  to  the  French 
consul,  Toussard,  they  registered  themselves  as  French  citizens 
and  applied  to  Jackson  for  discharges  from  military  service. 
The  demands  were  granted  until  they  became  so  numerous 
that  the  trick  was  evident.  Then  the  general  dealt  with  them 
in  a  characteristic  manner,  February  28th,  he  ordered  all 
French  citizens  to  retire  to  a  distance  of  120  miles  from  the 
city.  The  command  produced  consternation:  Toussard  pro- 
tested to  Governor  Claiborne,  who  replied  that  he  could  do 
nothing  and  referred  him  to  the  federal  courts.  When  Jackson 
learned  of  this  he  ordered  the  consul  out  of  the  city.  There 
was  much  excitement  among  the  Creoles,  and  on  March  3d, 
there  appeared  in  the  city  paper  an  anonymous  letter  protesting 
in  severe  terms  against  the  order  concerning  the  French.     It 


•Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  ss6-SS8. 

'Claiborne  to  Jackson,  February  24,  181  >;,  Jackson  Mss. 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW        225 

amounted  to  defiance  of  the  military  power  which  it  denounced, 
and  the  writer  could  only  have  expected  to  have  a  bout  with 
that  authority.  Jackson  left  him  in  little  suspense.  Learning 
that  the  objectionable  letter  was  written  by  Louaillier,  a  member 
of  the  assembly  —  who  had  been  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  cam- 
paign —  he  directed  his  arrest  by  a  file  of  soldiers.  Counsel 
for  Louaillier  at  once  applied  to  the  state  courts  for  his  release 
on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  The  request  was  refused  on  the 
ground  of  no  jurisdiction.  Louaillier  then  made  his  demand 
of  Dominick  A.  Hall,  the  federal  district  judge,  an  unbending 
defender  of  his  ofi&cial  dignity  and  authority.  He  was  not 
submissive  to  the  proclamation  of  martial  law  in  the  first  in- 
stance and  accepted  the  opportunity  to  try  his  strength  with 
the  commander-in-chief.  He  granted  Louaillier's  request,  stipu- 
lating that  Jackson  should  have  notice  before  the  writ  was 
served  on  him.  When  the  general  received  this  notice  he  wrote 
the  following  order  to  one  of  his  subordinates: 

Having  received  proof  that  Dominick  A.  Hall  has  been  aiding 
and  abetting  and  exciting  mutiny  within  my  camp,  you  will 
forthwith  order  a  detachment  to  arrest  and  confine  him,  and 
report  to  me  as  soon  as  arrested.  You  will  be  vigilant;  the 
agents  of  our  enemy  are  more  numerous  than  was  expected. 
You  will  guard  against  escapes. 

This  order  was  to  be  expected,  but  the  insinuation  that  Hall 
was  an  agent  of  the  enemy  was  discreditable  to  Jackson's 
inteUigence.' 

Just  at  this  time  came  a  messenger  from  Washington  with  an 
important  letter  for  the  general  and  an  open  order  to  postmasters 
to  facilitate  the  progress  of  the  bearer  of  news  of  peace.  Jack- 
son eagerly  broke  the  seal  and  found  that  by  some  error  the 
wrong  letter  was  en  :iOsed.    The  instructions  to  the  postmasters 

'Louaillier's  communication  and  the  orders  for  arrest  are  given  by  Parton,  Jackson,  II.,  309-316,  but 
PartoD  gives  no  suggestion  of  Jackson's  wrongheaded  attitude  in  the  week  which  followed. 


226  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

and  the  word  of  the  messenger  made  it  evident  that  the  war  was 
over,  but  Jackson  would  not  relax  martial  law.  His  only  con- 
cessions were  to  dismiss  the  Louisiana  reserved  militia  and  to 
repeal  his  order  for  the  exclusion  of  the  French  residents,  an 
order  which  had  not  been  obeyed.  Hall  was  kept  in  prison 
and  when  the  district-attorney  applied  to  a  state  judge  for  his 
release  on  habeas  corpus  proceedings,  both  attorney  and  judge 
were  ordered  under  arrest. 

The  situation  was  grave.  The  people  of  New  Orleans  were 
generally  for  the  civil  government,  and  the  officers  who  filled 
the  streets  and  coffee-houses  were  for  the  military  authority. 
Public  meetings  were  held  by  the  citizens,  and  officers  and 
citizens  came  to  the  point  of  blows  when  a  group  of  the  latter 
tore  down  an  illuminated  picture  of  Jackson  in  a  house  of  public 
entertainment.  Claiborne,  at  last  at  the  head  of  a  popular 
movement,  contended  for  the  integrity  of  the  civil  power  and 
instructed  the  Louisiana  attorney -general  to  resume  his  functions 
and  protect  the  citizens  from  mihtary  arrests. 

At  this  point  came  LouaiUier's  trial  by  a  court-martial,  pre- 
sided over  by  General  Gaines,  who  had  recently  arrived.  The 
letter  published  on  the  third  was  made  the  basis  of  seven  charges, 
one  of  which  was  that  Louaillier  was  a  spy.  The  accused  urged 
that  as  he  was  not  in  the  army  or  militia  he  was  without  the 
jurisdiction  of  a  court-martial.  The  court  allowed  the  plea 
with  reference  to  every  charge  except  that  of  being  a  spy,  and 
acquitted  him  on  that  because  he  was  not  found  lurking  about 
the  camp  or  fortifications.  No  court  with  a  sense  of  humor 
would  seriously  consider  the  charge  that  a  spy  would  publish 
a  letter  like  the  defendant's  in  the  columns  of  a  newspaper 
which  appeared  in  the  very  camp  of  the  commander  against 
which  it  was  hurled. 

The  sentence  of  the  court  displeased  Jackson.  March  loth 
he  reviewed  it  in  general  orders  and  gave  his  view  of  the  nature 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW        227 

and  scope  of  martial  law.  This  is  a  subject  about  which  military 
men  are  apt  to  differ  from  the  jurists,  and  the  war  of  181 2  v\^as 
the  first  under  the  constitution  in  wliich  it  came  up  for  adjust- 
ment. Commanders  were  inclined  to  follow  the  English  prec- 
edents which  gave  wide  interpretation  to  martial  law,  making 
it  nearly  identical  with  the  will  of  the  general.  In  every  case 
which  arose  in  this  war  and  went  to  the  courts  for  revision,  the 
judges  overthrew  this  view  and  announced  limitations  which 
sought  to  make  martial  law  as  little  arbitrary  as  possible.  It 
was  not  until  the  Civil  War  era  that  the  subject  received  definite 
statement  in  the  case  ex  parte  Milligan.'  In  his  general  orders 
Jackson  took  the  older  and  broader  view.  Making  no  distinc- 
tion between  a  military  commission  and  a  court-martial  he  held 
that  the  latter  could  take  cognizance  of  violations  of  martial 
as  weU  as  military  law  and  that  it  had  jurisdiction  over  cases 
of  mutiny.  He,  therefore,  set  aside  the  sentence  of  Gaines's 
court-martial  and  retained  Louaillier  in  prison.  Realizing 
that  it  was  useless  to  try  Hall  before  the  court-martial  which 
had  acquitted  Louaillier  he  sent  him,  March  12th,  out  of  the 
city  with  orders  not  to  return  until  peace  was  regularly  an- 
nounced or  the  enemy  had  departed  from  the  coast.  The  next 
day  came  official  news  that  the  treaty  was  ratified.  Jackson 
revoked  martial  law  immediately  and  released  his  prisoners. 
Toussard  and  Judge  Hall  came  back  to  town  amid  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  populace  and  Jackson  prepared  to  send  home  the 
detached  militia  from  Louisiana,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky.' 

Hall,  whom  his  friends  described  as  "a  magistrate  of  pure 
heart,  clean  hands,  and  a  mind  susceptible  of  no  fear  but  that 
of  God,'"  was  determined  to  vindicate  the  majesty  of  the  civil 
government.     Waiting   until   the   rejoicings   over   peace   were 

lUuited  States  Supreme  Court's  Reports,  4,  Wallace,  2. 

•These  incidents  are  described  by  Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  chapter    li,  with  evident  fairness.     See  also 
Martin,  History  of  Louisiana. 
'Martin,  History  of  Louisiana,  II.,  4x6. 


228  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

expended,  he  issued  on  March  21st,  an  order  summoning  Jackson 
into  court  to  show  why  he  should  not  be  held  in  contempt  for 
his  recent  refusal  to  recognize  the  court's  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 
March  27th,  Jackson  appeared  in  company  with  Major  Reid, 
one  of  his  aides.  He  submitted  a  written  statement  of  reasons 
why  he  was  not  in  contempt  and  withdrew,  leaving  Reid  to 
read  the  paper.  The  reading  of  it  was  hardly  begun  when  the 
court  interrupted  to  ask  the  nature  of  what  followed.  Reid 
replied  that  it  came  within  the  scope  of  rules  the  court  had 
laid  down.  Upon  this  the  judge  announced  that  he  would  take 
advice  and  suspended  the  sitting  until  the  next  day.  On  re- 
assembling Reid  was  not  allowed  to  proceed  and  argument  was 
heard.  Jackson's  counsel  would  offer  none  since  he  protested 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  court.  After  argument  by  the  prosecution 
court  adjourned  until  the  next  day,  when  Jackson  came  in 
person  with  a  written  protest  against  the  sentence  which  was 
about  to  be  given. 

Among  Jackson's  papers  is  a  draft  of  this  protest  in  the  hand- 
writing of  Abner  L.  Duncan,  one  of  the  volunteer  aides  and  a 
lawyer  of  ability:  It  runs:  "I  will  not  answer  interrogatories. 
I  may  have  erred,  but  my  motives  cannot  be  misinterpreted. 
.  .  .  The  law  can  be  satisfied  without  wounding  my  feeHngs 
whose  dictates  under  such  circumstances,  I  most  candidly  ac- 
knowledge, it  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to  restrain." 
This  apologetic  statement  was  not  used.  The  protest  which 
was  offered  survives  in  the  handwriting  of  Reid  and  runs:  "I 
will  not  answer  interrogatories.  When  called  upon  to  show 
cause  why  an  attachment  for  contempt  of  this  court  ought  not 
to  run  against  me,  I  offered  to  do  so.  You  have,  nevertheless, 
thought  proper  to  refuse  me  this  constitutional  right.  You 
would  not  hear  my  defense  although  you  were  advised  that  it 
contained  sufficient  causes  to  show  that  no  attachment  ought 
to  run.    Under  these  circumstances  I  appear  before  your  Honor 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW        229 

to  receive  the  sentence  of  the  court,  and  with  nothing  further 
to  add.  Your  Honor  will  not  understand  me  as  meaning  any 
disrespect  to  the  court  by  the  remarks  I  make;  but  as  no  op- 
portunity has  been  furnished  me  to  explain  the  reasons  and  mo- 
tives which  influenced  my  conduct,  so  it  is  expected  that  censure 
will  form  no  part  of  that  punishment  which  your  Honor  may 
imagine  it  your  duty  to  perform."  ' 

Before  this  dignified  protest  Judge  Hall  bore  himself  with 
equal  credit.  In  imposing  a  fine  of  $1,000,  he  remarked  that 
the  duty  was  unpleasant,  that  he  could  not  forget  the  important 
services  of  the  defendant  to  the  country,  and  that  in  consideration 
thereof  he  would  not  make  imprisonment  a  part  of  punishment. 
"The  only  question,"  he  added,  "was  whether  the  Law  should 
bend  to  the  General  or  the  General  to  the  Law,"  and  under  such 
conditions  the  court  could  not  hesitate  an  instant.  Jackson 
paid  the  fine,  and  when  his  admirers  raised  the  amount  for  him 
by  popular  subscription  he  waived  it  aside  with  characteristic 
generosity  asking  that  the  sum  be  used  to  relieve  the  families 
of  those  who  fell  in  defense  of  the  city.  At  the  final  hearing 
Jackson's  friends  offered  in  court  an  account  of  the  trial  from 
his  standpoint  and  requested  that  it  might  go  into  the  record. 
Hall  refused  the  request,  remarking  that  he  did  not  wish  to 
encumber  the  record  and  saying,  as  they  reported,  "that  he 
knew  what  we  would  be  at." 

Jackson's  bearing  at  the  trial  was  as  excellent  as  his  protest, 
which  has  been  quoted.  When  he  appeared,  he  was  followed 
by  an  excited  crowd  of  supporters,  soldiers,  and  civilians,  among 
them  a  number  of  Baratarians  who  had  cause  to  remember 
the  frown  of  Judge  Hall.  When  these  persons  faced  the  court 
they  raised  a  great  shout  of  defiance.  Jackson  quickly  rose  to 
his  feet,  faced  the  rabble,  and,  with  a  splendid  look  and  gesture, 
awed  it  into  respectful  silence.    Then  bowing  to  the  bench  he 

iSee  Jackson  Mss. 


230  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

resumed  his  seat.  After  the  sentence  was  announced  he  was 
drawn  in  a  carriage  by  his  admirers  to  the  Exchange  Coffee- 
House,  where  he  spoke  in  the  following  excellent  manner:  ''I 
have  during  the  invasion  exerted  every  one  of  my  faculties  for 
the  defense  and  preservation  of  the  constitution  and  the  laws. 
On  this  day  I  have  been  called  on  to  submit  to  their  operation 
under  circumstances  which  many  persons  might  have  thought 
sufficient  to  justify  resistance.  Considering  obedience  to  the 
laws,  even  when  we  think  them  unjustly  applied,  as  the  first 
duty  of  the  citizen,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  comply  with  the  sentence 
you  have  heard,  and  I  entreat  you  to  remember  the  example 
I  have  given  you  of  respectful  submission  to  the  administration 
of  justice.' 

This  was  Jackson  at  his  best,  and,  even  if  it  was  due  to  the 
suggestions  of  his  advisers,  it  did  him  credit.  Unfortunately, 
it  was  marred  by  an  early  return  to  what  an  opponent  termed 
"an  obstinate  and  morbidly  irascible  temperament."  A  few 
days  later  he  published  the  statement  which  the  judge  refused 
to  admit  to  the  record  with  a  preface  in  which  he  attacked  Hall 
in  a  severe  personal  manner.  He  charged  and  offered  to  prove, 
if  the  judge  denied  it,  certain  objectionable  things:  the  chal- 
lenge was  accepted,  in  a  prompt  newspaper  utterance,  but 
Jackson  failed  to  pursue  it  further.' 

Amid  the  rejoicing  that  followed  the  end  of  the  campaign  the 
quarrel  with  Hall  was  discounted  and  soon  forgotten.  The 
American  people  cared  little  for  the  ruffled  feelings  of  a  judge 
whom  they  believed  too  punctilious,  and  they  were  ready  to 
forgive  much  to  him  who  defeated  Pakenham.  The  incident, 
therefore,  left  Jackson's  glory  undiminished,  except  in  the  pages 
of  history,  where  it  is  a  warning  that  a  general  must  use  martial 


•Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  625,  Martin,  History  oj  Louisiana,  passim,  and  Reid^and  Eaton,  Jackson,  410. 
The  account  io  the  last  differs  in  some  respects  from  that  which  Martin,  a  contemporary,  gives,  and  which 
Gayarre  follows. 

'Gayarre,  Louisiana,  IV.,  626. 


NEW  ORLEANS  UNDER  MARTIAL  LAW        231 

law  moderately  and  an  example  to  encourage  a  just,  judge  to 
maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  laws. 

While  this  affair  transpired,  Jackson  was  preparing  to  return 
to  Nashville.  During  the  last  weeks  of  his  stay  Mrs.  Jackson 
was  his  visitor.  She  was  a  striking  figure  in  the  social  Hfe  of 
the  gay  French  city.  As  her  husband  was  the  soul  of  honesty 
and  primitive  honor,  she  was  the  essence  of  kind-heartedness 
and  religious  devotion.  Accustomed  to  the  best  position  in 
the  less  polished  society  of  Tennessee,  they  took  with  ease, 
if  not  with  grace,  a  similar  position  in  New  Orleans,  where  they 
were  long  remembered  with  kindness.  April  6th,  they  set  out 
for  Nashville,  received  at  every  stopping  place  with  demon- 
strations of  joy.  Cities  gave  dinners  and  legislatures  voted 
swords  and  addresses.  From  that  time  Jackson  was  the 
"Hero  of  New  Orleans." 

Reports  of  Jackson's  clash  with  Judge  Hall  reached  Wash- 
ington and  some  persons  demanded  that  he  be  court-martialed. 
As  soon  as  he  received  intimations  of  this  from  Madison  and 
Dallas,  secretary  of  war,  he  set  out  for  Washington  to  im- 
peach Hall,  first  sending  his  informant  severe  letters  in  denun- 
ciation of  his  opponents.  In  the  capital  both  President  and 
secretary  were  complaisant,  and  the  latter  in  a  letter  justified 
all  that  the  general  had  done.  But  there  was  an  interview 
in  which  the  superior  officer  offered,  as  Jackson  says,  "a  chart 
blank,  approving  my  whole  preceedings."  He  then  abandoned 
his  plan  to  impeach  the  judge.' 

In  the  spring  of  181 5,  the  army  was  reorganized  on  a  peace 
footing.  Two  divisions  were  created  with  a  major-general 
over  each.  Jackson  was  given  the  command  in  the  South  and 
Gen,  Jacob  Brown  in  the  North.  From  his  headquarters 
at  Nashville  he  directed  the  distribution  and  operations  of  the 


'Jackson  to  Kendall,  June  i8,  1842,  Cincinnati  Commercial,  February  5,  1879. 


232  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

forces  south  of  the  Ohio.  Brigadier- General  Gaines  commanded 
on  the  Florida  frontier,  where  there  was  most  danger;  and  his 
superior  might  remain  for  long  periods  at  the  "Hermitage," 
enjoying  the  honor  and  comfort  to  which  his  high  services  en- 
titled him/ 


Waited  States  Statutes  at  Large,  III.,  334> 


XIV 

CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA 

General  Gaines  was  well  pleased  to  command  on  the  south- 
eastern frontier.  Both  Indian  affairs  and  our  relations  with 
Spain  made  active  service  in  this  region  seem  probable.  The 
fugitive  Creeks,  held  in  check  during  the  winter  of  1814-15, 
were  still  hostile  and  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  renew  the 
struggle.  It  was  evident  to  most  men  that  the  United  States 
must  soon  have  Florida;  and  the  Southwest  viewed  skeptically 
President  Monroe's  long  drawn  out  diplomacy  to  that  end, 
believing  that  force  would  eventually  be  employed.  Jackson 
shared  these  opinions  and  enjoyed  the  prospect  of  becoming 
the  agent  who  would  make  Florida  American  territory. 

Of  these  two  probable  events  the  most  imminent  was  war 
with  the  Creeks.  During  the  recent  struggle  the  British  took 
the  Creeks  under  their  protection,  leading  them  to  think  that 
the  lands  would  be  restored,  which  were  lost  by  the  treaty  of 
Fort  Jackson.  Had  the  British  campaign  in  Louisiana  been 
successful,  some  attempts  to  execute  this  promise  would  doubt- 
less have  been  made.  But  the  treaty  of  Ghent  was  silent  on  the 
subject,  and  the  savages  were  forced  to  assume  the  appearance 
of  peace. 

A  clause  of  this  treaty  provided  that  the  United  States  should 
surrender  all  lands  taken  during  the  struggle  from  any  Indians 
with  whom  they  should  be  at  war  when  the  treaty  was  signed. 
The  British  may  have  had  the  Creeks  in  mind  when  the  clause 
was  written,  but  it  could  make  no  impression  on  the  United  States, 
since  they  held  that  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  August,  1814, 

233 


234  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

ended  the  war  with  these  Indians.  The  fugitive  Creeks  re- 
pudiated the  agreement  made  at  Fort  Jackson,  but  England 
was  not  disposed  to  insist  on  an  interpretation  friendly  to  their 
position.  The  savages  hardly  concealed  their  disappointment, 
and  certain  representatives  of  Great  Britain,  who  remained 
with  them,  worked  to  keep  it  alive,  through  either  good  or  bad 
intentions,  until  it  should  at  last  lead  to  open  war.  They 
assured  the  ignorant  red  men  that  England  would  see  justice 
done  them  and  the  treaty  be  put  into  operation. 

When  Colonel  Nicholls  arrived  in  Florida  in  the  summer  of 
1814,  he  was  accompanied  by  Capt.  George  Woodbine,' 
to  whom  was  assigned  the  work  of  organizing,  training,  and 
leading  the  corps  of  red  men  whom  it  was  intended  to  employ. 
Arms  and  uniforms  were  distributed  liberally,  and  soon  seven 
hundred  v/arriors  were  enlisted.  This  produced  consternation  on 
the  border,  where  the  inhabitants  thought  that  a  white  man  who 
would  lead  Indians  against  white  men  was  nearly  as  bad  as  one 
who  would  organize  Negroes  against  white  men.  Captain 
Woodbine  —  "the  notorious  Woodbine"  he  was  called  —  be- 
came exceedingly  unpopular  and  much  regret  was  expressed 
that  he  did  not  fall  into  American  hands  during  Jackson's  second 
dash  into  Florida.  A  great  deal  of  the  wrath  which  sprang  up 
on  his  account  found  vicarious  outlet  in  the  death  of  Arbuthnot 
and  Ambrister. 

Colonel  Nicholls  accompanied  the  British  to  New  Orleans 
but  took  no  part  in  the  battle.  After  their  departure  from  the 
coast  he  returned  to  Florida  and  resumed  his  course  as  friend 
to  the  Indians.  He  hoped  to  perpetuate  British  influence  and 
in  the  spring  of  181 5  made  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance 
with  them  in  behalf  of  his  sovereign.  So  far  as  this  related  to 
Indians  resident  within  the  borders  of  the  United  States  it  could 


'December  30,  1814,  he  signed  himself  "Captain  ist  Battalion  Royal  Marines,  and  British  Agent  at  the 
Talapues,"  American  State  Papers,  Foreign,  IV.,  4gi. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      235 

have  no  force,  and  if  ratified  by  the  EngHsh  government  it  must 
have  produced  trouble.  He  repaired  the  fort  built  the  preceding 
year  on  the  Apalachicola,  stored  it  abundantly  with  arms  and 
ammunition,  and  presented  it  to  his  allies  as  a  base  of  future 
operations.  He  sought  to  give  them,  also,  a  better  form  of 
organization.  At  a  great  assembly  of  chiefs  he  spoke  effectively 
of  the  duty  of  punishing  Indians  who  wronged  white  men  and 
succeeded  in  getting  the  Creeks  to  appoint  administrative 
ofl&cers  to  restrain  such  offenders;  and  he  encouraged  Indians 
who  had  grievances  against  white  men  to  bring  their  cases  to 
him.  After  investigating  such  complaints  he  would  appeal 
for  justice  to  Colonel  Hawkins,  the  United  States  agent  among 
the  Creeks.  It  is  conceivable  that  a  benevolent  man  in  this 
position  might  under  ideal  conditions  have  exerted  a  fortunate 
influence  on  the  relations  between  the  two  races;  but  Nicholls's 
spirit  was  not  benevolent,  his  reputation  was  sinister,  the  situa- 
tion was  unpropitious,  and  his  letters  to  Hawkins  were  so  posi- 
tive that  the  Americans  considered  them  arrogant.  To  the 
people  of  the  frontier  he  was  an  irritating  intermeddler. 

An  illustration  is  the  case  of  Bowlegs,  a  Seminole  chief,  who 
complained  that  the  Americans  had  killed  some  of  his  men  and 
driven  off  some  of  their  cattle.  Nicholls  heard  the  case  and 
May  12th,  wrote  to  Hawkins.  He  recounted  the  wrongs  of 
Bowlegs  and  added: 

Now,  sir,  if  these  enormities  are  suffered  to  be  carried  on 
in  a  Christian  country,  what  are  you  to  expect  by  showing 
such  an  example  to  the  uncultivated  native  of  the  woods?  (For 
savage  I  will  not  call  them  —  their  conduct  entitles  them  to  a 
better  epithet.)  I  have,  however,  ordered  them  to  stand  on  the 
defensive,  and  have  sent  them  a  large  supply  of  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion, and  told  them  to  put  to  death,  without  mercy,  any  one 

'This  chief  signed  himself  "Bolick.  chief  of  the  Seminole  Nation  at  Sahwahna,"  Amfriran  Slate  Papers. 
Foreign,  IV.,  403,  but  he  was  generally  called  "Bowlegs"  by  the  whites. 


236  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

molesting  them;  but  at  all  times  to  be  careful  and  not  put  a 
foot  over  the  American  line.  In  the  mean  time  that  I  should 
complain  to  you;  that  I  was  convinced  you  would  do  your 
best  to  curb  such  infamous  conduct.  Also  that  those  people 
who  have  done  such  deeds  would,  I  was  convinced,  be  disowned 
by  the  government  of  the  United  States  and  severely  punished. 
They  have  given  their  consent  to  await  your  answer  before 
they  take  revenge;  but,  sir,  they  are  impatient  for  it,  and  well 
armed  as  the  whole  nation  now  is,  and  stored  with  ammunition 
and  provisions,  having  a  stronghold  to  retire  upon  in  case  of  a 
superior  force  appearing,  picture  to  yourself,  sir,  miseries  that 
may  be  suffered  by  good  and  innocent  citizens  on  your  frontiers, 
and  I  am  sure  you  will  lend  me  your  best  aid  in  keeping  the  bad 
spirits  in  subjection.  ...  I  am  also  desired  to  say  to  you, 
by  the  chiefs,  that  they  do  not  find  that  your  citizens  are  evacuat- 
ing their  lands,  according  to  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty  of 
peace,  but  that  they  were  fresh  provisioning  the  forts.  This 
point,  sir,  I  beg  of  you  to  look  into.  They  also  request  me  to 
inform  you  that  they  have  signed  a  treaty  of  offensive  and  de- 
fensive alliance  with  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  one  of  commerce 
and  navigation,  which,  as  soon  as  it  is  ratified  at  home,  you  shall 
be  made  more  fully  acquainted  with.' 

When  this  letter  was  written,  the  Americans  were  preparing 
to  run  the  line  which,  by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  would 
separate  the  lands  retained  by  the  Creeks  from  those  ceded  to 
the  United  States,  General  Coffee  being  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners. The  Indians  were  greatly  excited,  and  Big  Warrior 
was  reported  to  be  urging  the  Choctaws  to  join  his  people  in 
a  war  against  the  whites.  General  Gaines,  with  1,000  men 
under  him,  felt  none  too  strong  to  handle  the  situation.  While 
he  called  for  5,000  men  to  reduce  the  Indians  to  a  condition  in 
which  they  would  be  either  "friendly  or  harmless"  he  proposed 
to  gain  time  by  holding  a  council.  He  met  the  chiefs  on  June 
7,  181 5,  and  by  much  persuasion  and  the  distribution  of  pro- 

^American  State  Papers,  Foreign,  TV.,  549. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      237 

visions  softened  their  temper  slightly;  but  his  own  confidence 
in  the  situation  was  not  restored.  Nicholls,  also,  was  actively- 
brewing  discord.  What  he  said  to  the  Indians  is  not  reported, 
but  it  may  be  inferred  from  a  letter  of  June  12th,  repudiating 
the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson  and  warning  the  whites  that  they 
would  occupy  the  ceded  district  at  their  peril.' 

Gaines  called  on  the  governor  of  Georgia  for  troops  and  when 
the  commissioners  to  run  the  line  met  in  the  autumn  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Flint  and  Chattahoochee  rivers  he  had  800  men 
on  the  spot.  This  show  of  force  cowed  the  Creeks,  and  the 
surveyors  proceeded  without  opposition;  but  the  sullen  savages 
muttered  that  there  would  be  trouble  when  settlers  appeared 
on  the  lands/  This  state  of  irritation  bore  the  usual  fruits. 
Indians  raided  the  white  settlements,  taking  Hfe  and  property, 
and  as  soon  as  claims  were  staked  out  in  the  disputed  region 
reports  of  outrages  began  to  go  northward. 

In  the  summer  of  18 15,  Nicholls  returned  to  England  about 
the  same  time  that  the  American  government  forwarded  thither 
a  protest  against  his  ambitious  schemes  with  the  Indians.  Lord 
Bathurst  lost  no  time  in  repudiating  the  plans  of  the  intermeddler, 
although  the  chiefs  who  accompanied  him  were  received  with 
prudent  flattery  in  both  official  and  unofficial  circles.  One 
of  them,  the  prophet  Francis,  was  made  a  brigadier-general  in 
the  royal  service  and  received  at  court  in  a  brave  red  uniform. 
He  was  given  money  and  other  presents  and  returned  to  Florida 
in  the  following  year  confident  that  he  was  in  high  favor  with 
his  new  friends  and  protectors.  These  occurrences  were  cal- 
culated to  create  as  much  misapprehension  among  the  Ameri- 
cans as  among  the  too  credulous  Indians. 

Meanwhile  Colonel  Nicholls's  red  friends  showed  how  little 


•Gaines  to  Jackson,  June  8  and  October  8, 1815,  Jackson  Mss.  Nicholls  to  Hawkins,  June]x2, 18x5,  Jackson 
Mss. 

^Benjamin  Hawkins  to  Jackson,  December  i  and  8,  1815;  Gaines  to  Jackson,  November'4,  18x5;  Gaines 
to  Governor  Early,  October  13,  1815;  Jackson  Mss. 


238  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

they  were  able  to  profit  from  his  help  by  losing  control  of  the 
fort  he  had  given  them.  In  northern  Florida  a  band  of  fugitive 
American  Negro  slaves  were  organized  for  their  own  protection. 
They  hated  the  Seminoles,  who  were  accustomed  to  hunt  them 
down  and  deliver  them  to  their  former  masters.  They  had  a 
good  leader  named  Gargon  and  at  an  auspicious  moment  seized 
the  fort  on  the  Apalachicola  with  its  3,000  muskets,  carbines, 
and  pistols,  its  763  barrels  of  gunpowder,  its  300  kegs  of  rifle- 
powder,  and  its  ample  supply  of  ball  and  other  necessaries;' 
and  they  held  it  against  all  the  efforts  of  the  Indians  to  retake 
it.  They  encouraged  other  fugitives  to  join  them,  raided  across 
the  border,  and  made  the  "Negro  Fort"  a  menace  to  the  slave 
property  of  southern  Georgia.  Even  the  Spanish  authorities 
looked  upon   it  with   apprehension. 

Gaines  was  alarmed  at  the  situation  and  offered  the  Semi- 
noles fifty  dollars  for  each  Negro  captive  if  they  took  the  fort. 
Jackson,  also,  took  up  the  matter  and  was  pleased  when  the 
government  ordered  him  to  destroy  the  place  if  the  Spaniards 
would  not  do  it.'  He  wrote  to  the  governor  of  Pensacola  ex- 
pressing such  a  determination  and  asking  if  the  "Negro  Fort" 
was  under  the  protection  of  the  King  of  Spain.  The  reply 
convinced  him  that  Spain  would  make  no  serious  objection  if 
the  Americans  suppressed  the  banditti.^  The  prospect  of 
energetic  action  pleased  him,  but  before  he  could  make  a  move 
a  terrific  accident  removed  the  object  of  solicitude. 

The  Americans  were  building  Fort  Scott  on  the  Apalachicola 
just  north  of  the  Florida  line.  In  July,  1816,  four  vessels,  two 
of  them  gunboats,  came  up  the  river  with  supplies  for  this  work. 
Gaines  took  the  precaution  to  send  Colonel  Clinch  with  116 
men  to  act  as  escort,  but  with  orders  not  to  attack  the  Negroes, 
imless  they  should  first  open  fire.    Near  the  fort  he  met  a  body 

^American  State  Papers,  Foreign,  IV.,  560. 

KJaines  to  Jackson,  May  14, 1816;  Crawford  to  Jackson,  March  15, 1816,  Jackson  Mss. 

iGovemor  Mauricio  de  Funigia  to  Jackson,  May  26,  1816,  Jackson  Mss. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      239 

of  Seminoles  hunting  for  Negro  captives  and  the  two  bands 
joined  forces.  From  11  captured  bandit  CHnch  learned  that 
several  days  earlier  Garjon  seized  and  slew  a  boat's  crew  from 
the  four  American  vessels,  which  now  lay  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  Considering  this  an  attack  within  the  meaning  of  his 
instructions  he  invested  the  hated  fort  and  ordered  the  gun- 
boats to  come  up  the  river.  The  Negroes  gathered  their  women 
and  children  in  the  place  and  showed  their  contempt  for  their 
opponents  by  wildly  firing  their  thirty-two  pounders  into  the 
forest.  After  several  days  of  this  pantomime  the  gunboats 
were  warped  up  the  river  against  adverse  winds  and  on  July 
27th,  opened  fire.  Their  small  solid  shot  made  no  impression 
on  the  strong  English  built  walls,  and  hot  shot  were  secured. 
The  first  one  of  these  had  the  fortune  to  penetrate  a  large  maga- 
zine within  the  fort  and  there  was  a  terrific  explosion,  which 
cost  the  lives  of  270  of  the  inmates  and  wounded  sixty-one  more. 
Of  the  334  occupants  only  three  escaped  unhurt.  One  of  these 
was  Garfon,  who  was  hanged  in  retaliation  for  tarring  and 
burning  one  of  the  crew  of  the  captured  boat  of  the  whites.  One 
unfavorable  complication  clouded  this  overwhelming  success. 
Clinch  had  promised  the  cooperating  Seminoles  the  arms 
taken  from  the  fort,  and  he  could  hardly  do  otherwise  since 
they  were  originally  Seminole  property.  Many  were  found  in 
the  ruins  and  handed  over  to  the  red  men.  These  guns  were 
later  used  by  the  Indians  against  the  Americans.' 

The  Negro  menace  was  now  gone  but  the  Indian  discontent 
remained.  The  unhappy  Creeks  realized  their  helplessness. 
When  Gaines  appeared  on  the  border  to  lay  out  the  walls  of 
Fort  Scott  he  called  the  neighborhood  chiefs  to  a  council.  They 
took  the  pipe  of  peace  with  listlessness  saying,  as  he  reported, 
"that  they  were  too  poor  to  oppose  us  and  therefore  had  deter- 

>See  report  of  Sailing-master  Loomis  commanding  the  gunboats  that  destroyed  the  fort,  American  Slate 
Papers,  Foreign,  IV.,  SS9- 


240  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

mined  to  sit  still  and  hold  down  their  heads.'"  But  some  un- 
bending spirits  among  them  took  up  the  tomahawk,  slew  white 
men,  and  escaped  to  Florida.  Then  the  indignation  of  the  settlers 
was  aroused  and  thoughout  Georgia  and  Alabama  ran  a  demand 
for  war.  Desperate  white  men  made  reprisals  and  one  of  the 
slain  was  "a,  beloved  woman."  When  her  murderers  were 
arrested  they  were  released  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  Gaines 
ordered  their  re-imprisonment  and  placed  them  in  the  same 
jail  with  some  Indians  held  for  killing  white  persons.'  But 
this  was  unusual  justice,  and  the  Creeks  were  dismayed  at  the 
inequity  of  their  ordinary  treatment.  "If  the  Indian  murderers," 
said  Big  Warrior, writing  to  Jackson  in  reference  to  another  case, 
"were  as  completely  in  my  power  as  this  murderer  was  in  yours, 
you  should  see  what  I  should  have  done  for  him."' 

By  March,  1817,  several  thousand  white  people  were  settled  on 
the  rich  lands  taken  from  the  Creeks.  They  came  with  the 
heedless  haste  characteristic  of  the  first  comers  in  a  new  region 
and  soon  suffered  for  lack  of  supplies.'  This  hardship  made 
the  increasing  Indian  depredations  seem  heavier.  When  the 
Indians  demanded  punishment  for  the  slayers  of  their  brethren 
they  were  told  that  no  white  man  would  be  killed  for  slaying 
an  outlaw.  Then  the  savages  renewed  their  depredations. 
The  whites  demanded  that  the  responsible  parties  be  given  up. 
Then  ten  Indian  towns  united  and  sent  their  defiance.  Ten 
red  men,  they  said,  had  been  killed,  and  only  seven  whites:  let 
the  Americans  know  that  three  more  white  men  must  die  before 
scores  would  be  even.  The  message,  as  Gaines  reported  to  Wash- 
ington, was  really  a  declaration  of  hostilities,' 

About  this  stage  in  the  story  Alexander  Arbuthnot  becomes 
prominent.     This    intelligent    and    benevolent    Scotch    trader 

'Gaines  to  Jackson,  April  18,  1816,  Jacksan  Mss. 
^Gaines  to  Jackson,  June  3,  1817,  Jackson  Mss. 
'April  16,  1817,  Jackson  Mss. 
*Gaines  to  Jackson,  March  6,  1817,  Jackson  Mss. 
Raines  to  Jackson,  October  i,  1817,  Jackson  Mss. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      241 

appeared  in  Florida  early  in  181 7.  Interested  in  the  welfare 
of  the  Creeks  he  became  both  trader  and  political  adviser, 
assuming  in  the  latter  relation  almost  exactly  the  position 
formerly  occupied  by  NichoUs.  They  trusted  him  and  gave 
him  a  power  of  attorney  to  treat  for  them.  When  the  Ameri- 
cans in  July  proposed  a  conference  he  replied  in  behalf  of  one 
of  the  chiefs  partly  as  follows : 

I  have  received  your  letter  requiring  me  to  attend  you  to 
hear  a  talk  authorized  by  the  President  of  America.  It  is  not 
convenient  for  me  to  attend  personally,  but  I  will  pay  every 
attention  to  your  talk  if  you  will  send  it  to  me  in  writing,  and 
I  assure  you  by  this,  that  it  is  my  wish  to  be  good  friends  with 
the  Americans,  as  well  as  all  other  people.  I  beg  you  to  attend 
to  no  foolish  talk  or  reports,  that  me  or  any  of  my  people  wish 
to  disturb  the  Americans  who  do  not  encroach  on  us.  We  are 
peaceable  and  wish  to  let  others  be  so;  but  there  are  people 
with  the  Nation  who  make  trouble.     Listen  not  to  them/ 

In  taking  up  the  work  of  Nicholls,  Arbuthnot  assumed  the 
former's  unpopularity  with  the  whites,  and  the  day  was  to  come 
when  he  would  rue  it.  Gaines  pronounced  him  "one  of  those 
self-styled  philanthropists  who  have  long  infested  our  neigh- 
boring Indian  villages  in  the  character  of  British  agents.'" 
The  people  of  the  frontier  identified  him  with  "the  notorious 
Woodbine,"  and  there  were  some  who  considered  him  the  same 
individual  under  an  assumed  name.  Among  the  latter  was 
Niles,  editor  of  the  famous  Baltimore  weekly.  The  Register.  He 
published  a  letter  from  Arbuthnot  to  the  commandant  of  Fort 
Gaines  in  which  the  writer  said:  "The  head  chiefs  request  I 
will  enquire  of  you  why  American  settlers  are  descending  the 
Chattahoochee,  driving  the  poor  Indian  from  his  habitations, 
and  taking  possession  of  his  home  and  cultivated  fields."    He 

'See  Gaines  to  Jackson,  July  lo,  1817,  Jackson  Mss. 
*Gaines  to  Jackson,  April  3,  1817,  Jackaon  Mss. 


242  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

appealed,  he  said,  in  the  name  of  humanity  and  not  by  authority, 
but  he  gave  warning  that  the  British  government  would  send 
to  see  "that  the  boundary  lines,  as  marked  out  by  the  treaty, 
were  not  infringed."  Niies,  reprinting  this  letter,  pronounced 
it  "about  as  impudent  a  thing  as  we  ever  saw,"  adding  that  if 
Arbuthnot  were  captured  he  should  be  punished  "with  far  less 
pity  than  is  due  to  a  sheep-killing  dog."'  In  November,  1817, 
Gaines  said  that  the  hostile  Indians  numbered  2,000  with  400 
Negroes.' 

While  relations  with  the  Indians  were  thus  becoming  war- 
like, the  old  irritation  against  Spain,  overshadowed  for  a  time 
by  the  campaign  in  Louisiana,  sprang  again  into  vigorous  life. 
Jackson's  army  was  hardly  disbanded  before  restless  adventurers 
in  New  Orleans  were  planning  an  expedition  against  Mexico. 
Aurey's  expedition  to  hold  Galveston  Bay  had  in  it  many  who 
served  under  Jackson.  General  Humbert  and  Major  Peire  were 
among  them,  and  they  were  quickly  followed  by  the  Lafittes, 
who  had  doffed  the  cloak  of  patriotism  to  assume  again  the  more 
profitable  garb  of  privateer.  Edward  Livingston  himself  remained 
in  New  Orleans  lay  adviser  of  the  movement,  even  as  he  was 
formerly  paid  friend  and  mediator  for  the  Baratarians.  He 
and  others  kept  Jackson  informed  of  the  movement  and  wished 
that  the  latter  might  lead  it.'  Jackson  gave  no  open  encourage- 
ment to  it,  neither  did  he  try  to  suppress  it;  and  the  affair 
served  to  keep  alive  the  popular  feeling  against  Spain. 

Another  incident,  trivial  in  itself,  further  irritated  the  borderers 
and  aroused  the  feelings  of  Jackson  and  his  military  subordi- 
nates. The  Americans  were  building  Fort  Crawford  on  the 
Spanish  frontier  and  were  sending  supplies  to  it  by  way  of  the 
Escambia,   which  empties  into  Pensacola  Bay.    The   supplies 

•Niles,  XII.,  211,  487,  XIV.,  page  i68,  n. 
^Gaines  to  Jackson,  November  21,  1817,  Jackson  Mss. 

"Livingston  to  Jackson,  November  7, 1816;  Colonel  Gibson  to  Jackson,  January  12, 1817;  Oaines  to  Jackson, 
February  14,  1817;  Jackson  Mss. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      243 

were  under  the  charge  of  Colonel  Brearly.  In  anticipation  of 
his  arrival  at  Pensacola,  Gaines  sent  a  messenger  thither  to  ask 
the  Spanish  governor  to  allow  the  boats  to  pass  without  hin- 
drance, giving  the  messenger  a  guard  of  seven  soldiers  for  protec- 
tion against  the  Seminoles.  At  first  the  governor  objected  to 
the  request  because  he  could  not  allow  goods  to  be  imported 
free  of  duty.  If  the  Americans  wanted  to  buy  provisions  in 
Pensacola,  he  said,  they  might  do  so  as  freely  as  he  could  buy 
them  in  the  United  States,  and  if  they  desired  they  might  refer 
the  case  to  the  governor-general  in  Havana.  The  messenger 
remained  in  the  town,  persisting  in  his  demands,  keeping  his 
guard  posted  —  a  source  of  irritation  —  and  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  Brearly.  After  much  delay  and  the  renewal  of  the  demands 
by  Brearly  when  he  had  arrived,  the  Spaniard  relented  on  the 
ground  that  the  provisions  were  needed  for  the  sake  of  humanity. 
This  happened  in  April  and  May,  181 7.  Twice  later  he  made 
the  same  concession  under  the  same  pretext;  and  finally  in 
April,  1818,  he  refused  to  pass  other  supplies  unless  a  Spanish 
merchant  were  made  agent  to  forward  them,  paying  the  regular 
duties.'  In  this  position  the  governor  was  within  his  rights, 
since  the  Escambia  was  not  by  treaty  or  accepted  international 
law  open  to  American  navigation.  But  his  denial  of  the  priv- 
ilege was  taken  as  a  wrong  by  Gaines,  who  wrote  to  the  governor 
a  letter,  May  12,  181 7,  which  for  raw  and  undignified  manner 
ought  to  make  any  courteous  American  blush  to  this  day.' 

Meanwhile  President  Monroe  was  negotiating  for  the  purchase 
of  Florida.  In  some  doubt  of  his  final  success  he  was  pleased 
to  have  Jackson  in  a  position  to  seize  that  province,  if  it  should 
be  necessary.  In  fact,  the  President,  feeling  that  war  was 
imminent,  was  making  preparations  for  such  an  event.  June 
2,  181 7,  he  wrote  that  England  was  preparing  to  help  Spain 

'Gaines  to  Jackson,  April  2  and  May  8, 1817;  Governor  Jose  Mascot  to  Gaines,  April  12,  ai,  1817  ;  Governor 
Jose  Mascot  to  Jackson,  April  15,  1818;  Jackson  Mss. 
'Jackson  Mss. 


244  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

subdue  her  revolting  colonies  in  return  for  commercial  priv- 
ileges   in    South    America.' 

Nothing  could  please  Jackson  better  then  the  prospect  of  get- 
ting his  hands  again  on  the  rich  prize,  which  he  joyfully  held  for 
a  brief  moment  in  1814.  Between  him  and  the  President  there 
was  complete  understanding.  Referring  to  the  invasion  of 
1 8 14,  Monroe  wrote:  "It  is  true  I  was  not  very  severe  on  you 
for  giving  the  blow,  nor  ought  I  to  have  been  for  a  thousand 
considerations,  which  I  need  not  mention.'"  There  could  not 
be  much  real  anger  beneath  the  ofhcial  frowns  of  such  a  superior. 

The  first  step  into  Florida  came  in  connection  v/ith  the  AmeHa 
Island  incident.  This  place,  on  the  Atlantic  coast  just  south 
of  the  American  line,  was  seized  in  181 7,  by  McGregor,  an  Irish 
adventurer  who  had  been  concerned  before  that  in  a  filibustering 
expedition  against  Mexico.  It  became  the  resort  of  smugglers 
and  a  scene  of  discord,  which  was  as  intolerable  to  Spain  as  to 
the  United  States.  Early  in  November  Gaines  was  directed  to 
occupy  it  till  further  orders.  The  adventurers  made  no  resist- 
ance and  time  was  granted  them  to  withdraw. 

When  Gaines  was  sent  to  Amelia  Island  hostiUties  with  the 
Seminoles  were  already  begun.  Fowltown,  a  particularly 
independent  Indian  town,  lay  on  the  American  side  of  the  new 
line.  Its  chief  gave  prompt  notice  to  the  commandant  of  Fort 
Scott  that  the  land  taken  by  the  Americans  was  his  and  that 
he  should  resist  all  attempts  to  deprive  him  of  it.  Gaines 
waited  not  a  moment  to  conciliate  him;  he  treated  the  defiance 
as  a  declaration  of  war  and  ordered  Major  Twiggs  with  250 
men  to  seize  the  defiant  chief.  Twiggs  reached  the  place  on 
November  21st,  was  fired  on  by  the  savages,  returned  their 
fire,  and  drove  them  into  the  forest,  with  four  warriors  slain 
and  many  more  wounded.     Gaines  reported  this  action  to  his 

>Jackson    Mss. 

*Monroe  to  Jackson,  July  3,  1816,  Jackson  Mss. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      245 

superiors  and  awaited  instructions  to  carry  the  struggle  against 
all  the  hostile  Indians/  The  operations  against  McGregor 
called  him  away  from  these  scenes,  which  promised  such  active 
campaigning.  The  secretary  of  war  —  it  was  now  Calhoun  — 
did  in  fact  on  December  i8th,  and  again  on  December  26th, 
order  him  to  attack  the  Seminoles,  through  East  Florida  if  it 
seemed  advisable,  pursuing  them  into  Florida  if  necessary,' 
but  when  these  instructions  reached  him  the  conduct  of  the 
principal  attack  was  entrusted  to   other  hands. 

December  26th,  the  day  he  ordered  Gaines  for  the  second 
tune  to  advance,  Calhoun  also  ordered  Jackson  to  Fort  Scott 
to  assume  the  chief  direction  of  the  war.  He  was  authorized 
to  concentrate  at  that  point  all  the  troops  in  his  department, 
including  1,000  Georgia  mihtia  recently  called  into  service, 
and  to  caU  out  other  militia  if  needed.'  The  order  found  him 
at  the  "Hermitage"  alive  to  the  situation.  He  beUeved  the 
time  was  come  to  seize  Florida,  and  January  6,  181 8,  before 
he  left  Nashville,  he  suggested  as  much  to  Monroe  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter: 

Sir:  A  few  days  since  I  received  a  letter  from  the  Secretary 
of  War,  of  the  17th  ult.,  with  enclosures.  Your  order  of  the 
19th  ult.  through  him  to  Brevet  Major-General  Gaines  to  enter 
the  territory  of  Spain,  and  chastise  the  ruthless  savages  who 
have  been  depredating  on  the  lives  and  property  of  our  citizens, 
will  meet  not  only  the  approbation  of  your  country,  but  the 
approbation  of  Heaven.  Will  you,  however,  permit  me  to  suggest 
the  catastrophe  that  might  arise  by  General  Gaines's  comph- 
ance  with  the  last  clause  of  your  order?  Suppose  the  case  that 
the  Indians  are  beaten:  they  take  refuge  either  in  Pensacola 
or  St.  Augustine,  which  open  their  gates  to  them;  to  profit  by 
his  victory.  General  Gaines  pursues  the  fugitives,  and  has  to 

iAmerican  State  Papers,  Military,  I.,  s66.  ,  ,,     ,  i  .*      •.  „•„», 

^Jackson  Mss.;  also  American  State  Papers,  Military,  I.,  689,  where  the  date  of  the  former  letter  is  given 

December  16,  1817. 

'American  State  Papers,  Military,  I.,  690. 


246  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

halt  before  the  garrison  until  he  can  communicate  with  his 
government.  In  the  mean  time  the  militia  grow  restless,  and 
he  is  left  to  defend  himself  by  the  regulars.  The  enemy,  with 
the  aid  of  their  Spanish  friends  and  Woodbine's  British  partisans, 
or,  if  you  please,  with  Aurey's  force,  attacks  him.  What  may 
not  be  the  result?  Defeat  and  massacre.  Permit  me  to  re- 
mark that  the  arms  of  the  United  States  must  be  carried  to 
any  point,  within  the  limits  of  East  Florida,  where  an  enemy  is 
permitted  and  protected,  or  disgrace  attends. 

The  Executive  Government  have  ordered,  and,  as  I  con- 
ceive, very  properly,  Amelia  Island  to  be  taken  possession  of. 
This  order  ought  to  be  carried  into  execution  at  all  hazards, 
and  simultaneously  the  whole  of  East  Florida  seized,  and  held 
as  an  indemnity  for  the  outrages  of  Spain  upon  the  property  of 
our  citizens.  This  done,  it  puts  all  opposition  down,  secures 
our  citizens  a  complete  indemnity,  and  saves  us  from  a  war 
with  Great  Britain,  or  some  of  the  continental  powers  combined 
with  Spain.  This  can  be  done  without  implicating  the  govern- 
ment. Let  it  he  signified  to  me  through  any  channel  {say  Mr.  J. 
Rhea)  that  the  possession  of  the  Floridas  woidd  be  desirable  to  the 
United  States^  and  in  sixty  days  it  will  be  accom,plished. 

The  order  being  given  for  the  possession  of  Ameha  Island, 
it  ought  to  be  executed,  or  our  enemies,  internal  and  external, 
will  use  it  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  government.  If  our  troops 
enter  the  territory  of  Spain  in  pursuit  of  our  Indian  enemy,  all 
opposition  that  they  meet  with  must  be  put  down,  or  we  will 
be  involved  in  danger  and  disgrace.' 

This  letter  was  sound  in  its  military  ideas  and  unsound  in  its 
notion  of  foreign  policy.  It  was  certain  that  the  Indians,  if 
attacked,  would  flee  to  Florida,  and  if  pursued  thither  they 
would  seek  refuge  in  Spanish  towns;  so  that  if  hands  might 
not  be  laid  violently  on  such  place  of  refuge,  it  would  be  well  to 
make  no  appeal  to  arms  in  the  first  instance.  But  the  sug- 
gestion that  Florida  be  held  as  indemnity  was  impracticable. 

Later,  Jackson  asserted  that  while  on  his  way  to  Fort  Scott, 

'Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  I.,  169. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      247 

in  February,  18 18,  he  received  from  Rhea  the  expected  assurance 
and  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  that  information  that  he 
carried  his  army  boldly  into  Florida.  He  also  asserts  that  he 
preserved  Rhea's  letter  till  the  Seminole  controversy  of  the  suc- 
ceeding winter  became  warm  and  that  he  then,  April  12,  1819, 
burned  the  letter  at  Rhea's  request,  who  said  that  he  urged 
it  at  Monroe's  solicitation.  He  also  said  that  he  wrote 
a  note  to  this  effect  on  the  margin  of  his  letter-book  the 
day  the  communication  from  Rhea  was  destroyed,  and 
that  his  friend.  Judge  Overton,  saw  the  letter  while  it  was 
extant. 

Monroe's  story  differs  totally  from  Jackson's.  He  says 
that  he  was  ill  when  the  letter  of  January  6th  was  received, 
that  he  read  only  two  lines  of  it  and  seeing  that  it  pertained 
to  the  Seminole  situation  laid  it  aside  for  Calhoun,  that 
when  the  secretary  of  war  read  it  he  returned  it  with 
the  remark  that  it  required  the  President's  own  perusal, 
that  it  was  shown  to  Crawford,  a  Georgian  and  secretary 
of  the  treasury,  and  that  he,  Monroe,  then  laid  it  aside 
and  did  not  read  it  until  his  attention  was  called  to  it  by 
Calhoun  after  congress  met  in  December,  18 18,  when  he 
looked  it  up  and  saw  for  the  first  time  the  suggestion  as  to 
seizing  Florida. 

The  historian  must  choose  between  the  statements  of  the 
two  men.  Both  are  persons  of  conceded  honesty,  and  we  cannot 
impugn  the  intentions  of  either.  But  Monroe,  as  an  educated 
man  and  a  trained  official,  probably  had  a  more  reliable  memory. 
Jackson's  defense,  which  he  prepared  at  the  time  but  did  not 
pubHsh,  shows  that  he  was  not  judicially  minded.  There  is 
more  probability  that  his  memory  was  poorer  than  Monroe's. 
Moreover,  certain  other  facts  weaken  Jackson's  story:  (i)  He 
gave  only  a  most  general  account  of  the  contents  of  the  letter. 
Even  if  it  were  written  we  cannot  be  sure  that  his  memory  did 


248  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

not  play  a  trick  in  regard  to  its  meaning.'  (2)  Although  he  says 
he  made  in  the  margin  of  his  letter-book  a  note  opposite  the 
copy  of  the  letter  of  January  6th,  no  letter-book  for  this  date 
is  found  in  the  large  collection  of  papers  which  he  has  left, 
and  neither  Benton,  nor  Parton,  nor  Kendall,  nor  any  other 
of  the  earlier  historians  who  saw  the  collection  in  its  undiminished 
state,  except  the  unreliable  Henry  Lee,  has  mentioned  it.  It 
would  seem  that  Jackson  would  have  been  careful  to  preserve 
this  bit  of  corroborating  evidence  after  the  loss  of  its  main  piece, 
if  he  had  it.  (3)  What  real  harm  could  Rhea's  letter  have  done 
commensurate  with  the  commotion  caused  by  its  assumed  de- 
struction? It  is  said  its  publication  would  have  made  Spain 
unwilling  to  sign  the  Florida  cession  treaty,  but  the  treaty 
was  signed  at  Washington  seven  weeks  before  the  letter  was 
said  to  have  been  destroyed.  It  was  then  expected  that 
Spain  would  ratify  at  once;  and  as  the  letter  was  safe  in  Jackson's 
hand  and  only  destroyed  to  prevent  its  coming,  by  his  death 
or  some  accident,  into  the  hands  of  persons  who  might  not 
conceal  it  —  a  contingency  which  was  not  imminent  —  its 
destruction  could  hardly  have  been  necessary  to  make  ratifica- 
tion sure.  (4)  When  Rhea  was  called  on  later  to  corroborate 
Jackson  he  was  so  old  that  his  faculties  were  weak.  He  wrote 
at  least  three  letters  to  Jackson  before  he  was  able  to  recall 
all  that  Jackson  desired  and  he  did  not  succeed  till  he  received 
some  important  promptings.  In  one  letter,  January  4,  183 1,  he 
said: 

I  observe  by  my  papers  that  you  was  in  Washington  in 
January,  1819.  As  yet  nothing  more.  At  that  time  I  was 
continually  occupied  with  business  before  the  committee  of 
pensions  and  revolutionary  claims,  and  therefore  I  desire  to 

lA  copy  of  Overton's  statement  is  in  the  Jaclison  Mss.  He  says  that  in  iSiS,  while  preparing  Jackson's 
defense  in  the  Seminole  Controversy,  he  saw  Rhea's  letter  in  the  original,  which  "in  substance  conveyed 
the  idea  that  he  had  conversed  with  the  President,  who  showed  him  your  confidential  letter;  that  he  approved 
of  your  suggestion,  etc."     Which  suggestion? 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      249 

have  something  to  bring  the  matter  to  my  recollection.  You 
did  not  write  it  to  me  but  I  see  by  the  newspapers  what  is  going 
on.  I  request  you  to  send  me  to  Blountsville  a  copy  of  the 
letter  (in  which  you  mention  my  name)  to  Mr.  Monroe.  I 
am  desirous  to  have  it  and  trust  all  wiU  come  to  light.  As 
you  are  on  the  defensive  I  will  help  you  all  I  can.  I  desire 
nothing  to  be  known  of  me  in  the  business,  until  I  speak  out 
as  fully  myself  as  I  can  and  therefore  this  letter  so  far  confi- 
dential, confidential. 

Jackson  complied  with  his  friend's  request,  forwarded  copies 
of  his  letters  to  Monroe  and  related  the  whole  matter  as  he 
remembered  it.  March  30th,  Rhea  was  still  calling  for  infor- 
mation and  saying,  "You  think  you  will  have  to  come  out  — 
if  so,  be  not  in  haste.'" 

December  18,  18 18,  Rhea  seems  to  have  known  nothing  of 
such  a  letter  as  Jackson  later  described.  Writing  to  the  latter 
he  said:  "I  will,  for  one,  support  your  conduct,  believing  as 
far  as  I  have  read  that  you  have  acted  for  public  good.    There 

'The  letters  from  Rhea  to  Jackson,  January  4,  March  30,  April  2,  1831,  are  in  Jackson  Mss.  I  ven- 
ture a  possible  explanation  of  the  discrepancy  between  the  statements  of  Monroe  and  Jackson,  mostly 
a  conjecture  for  it  cannot  be  proved.  Early  in  1817,  Jackson  learned  that  the  acting  secretary  of  war  had 
withdrawn  from  his  division  Major  Long,  a  subordinate,  and  assigned  him  to  duty  elsewhere  without  inform- 
ing the  commanding  general  of  the  fact.  He  sent  a  vigorous  remonstrance  to  President  Monroe,  and  getting 
no  reply  within  a  reasonable  time,  published  an  order  warning  his  officers  to  obey  no  instructions  in  the  future 
which  did  not  come  through  his  hands.  A  dispute  was  thus  brought  to  the  public  attention  between  Gen- 
eral Jackson  and  the  acting  secretary,  which  the  pacific  Monroe  was  not  able  to  settle.  But  when  Calhoun 
took  the  war  office,  December  10, 1817,  he  wrote  a  conciliatory  letter  to  Jackson  and  restored  his  good  temper. 
Late  in  November,  while  the  affair  was  still  unsettled,  Rhea,  who  was  a  member  of  congress  from  Tennessee, 
had  a  conversation  about  it  with  Monroe,  in  which  the  latter  said  many  complimentary  things  about  Jackson. 
November  27Lh  and  again  December  24th,  Rhea  wrote  Jackson  in  regard  to  the  matter.expressing  the  President's 
high  regard  for  the  general.  All  of  this  shows  that  Rhea  considered  himself  a  mediator  between  his  two  friends 
in  this  matter.  Now  the  bearing  of  this  situation  on  the  letter  of  January  6th  is  this:  It  is  possible  that  some 
approving  expression  of  Monroe  in  a  later  conversation  with  Rhea  was  reported  by  the  latter  to  Jackson  in 
such  a  way  that  the  general  would  take  it  for  the  hint  to  invade  Florida.  Neither  Monroe  nor  Rhea,  then 
knew  about  the  suggestion  of  January  6th,  and  an  approving  expression  of  the  former  may  have  been  innocently 
reported  by  the  latter  in  such  a  way  as  to  convey  a  world  of  meaning  to  the  expectant  Jackson.  We  can  hardly 
doubt  that  Jackson  burned,  as  he  alleged,  a  letter  from  Rhea  containing  some  statement,  which  he  took  for 
permission;  the  statement  so  interpreted  must,  therefore,  have  referred  to  something  else.  This  explanation 
seems  more  probable,  since  neither  Jackson  nor  Overton  gives  any  definite  notion  of  how  the  permission  in  the 
burned  letter  was  worded.  The  alternative  to  this  theory,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  is  to  hold  that  either  Jackson  or 
Monroe  made  false  assertions,  with  the  probability  in  favor  of  Jackson's  guilt.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  this 
of  either  man.  (For  the  letters  from  Rhea  to  Jackson  mentioned  in  this  note  see  Jackson  Mss;  also  see  Mon- 
roe to  Jackson,  December  2, 181 7,  in  the  same  collection.)     —  J.  S.  B. 


2  50  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

has  been  (as  you  no  doubt  will  have  observed,  in  the  public 
papers,)  an  attempt  made  to  investigate,  but  failed  —  the 
resolution  was  postponed  —  indefinitely.  I  confess  I  had 
rather  that  everything  that  could  have  been  alleged  had  come 
out,  but  it  was  otherwise  ordered.'"  The  tone  of  this  letter 
and  the  lack  of  others  from  Rhea  at  this  time  seem  to  indicate 
that  he  knew  little  about  the  beginning  of  the  Seminole  War. 

Senator  Williams,  of  Tennessee,  claimed  that  he  suggested 
to  Monroe  to  order  that  the  Indians  be  followed  into  Florida, 
that  he  believed  Jackson  would  seize  the  opportunity  if  war- 
ranted in  doing  so  by  his  orders,  and  that  when  the  controversy 
arose  in  1819  he  knew  from  Crawford,  and  said  to  many  friends, 
that  Calhoun  in  Monroe's  Cabinet  desired  to  reprimand  Jackson. 
Williams  added  that  Jackson  was  told  this  but  was  so  infuriated 
against  Crawford  that  he  would  not  believe  it.' 

Whatever  the  truth  about  the  suggestion  of  January  6th, 
the  secretary's  orders  of  December  26th,  to  take  command  of 
the  campaign  put  General  Jackson  into  quick  motion.  It  was 
January  nth  that  the  order  reached  the  "Hermitage."  It 
reminded  the  commander  that  there  were  800  regulars  and 
1,000  Georgia  militia  under  arms  in  the  southern  division,  and 
it  authorized  him  to  call  on  the  governors  of  neighboring  states 
for  other  troops  if  they  were  needed.  Eighteen  hundred  men 
were  enough  to  beat  the  Indians  but  they  were  not  enough  to 
seize  and  hold  Florida,  and  it  was  the  latter  object  that  Jackson 
had  in  mind.  One  thousand  mounted  men  from  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky  were  believed  to  be  necessary  for  this  movement; 
but  they  could  not  be  called  out  at  once  by  the  governor,  who 
was  on  a  visit  to  the  Cherokees.  With  characteristic  initiative 
Jackson  called  together  some  of  his  old  officers,  authorized  them 
to  raise  the  required  number  of  men  on  his  own  responsibiUty, 


'Jackson  Mss. 

ijohn  Williams  to  Van  Buren,  March,  a,  1831.     Van  Buien  Mss. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      251 

and  join  him  at  Fort  Scott  as  soon  as  possible.  He  assumed 
rightly  that  the  governor  would  later  approve  of  the  action. 
January  22nd,  with  200  men  from  the  vicinity  of  Nashville, 
he  set  out  by  the  shortest  roads  for  the  scene  of  danger.  At 
Hartford,  in  northern  Georgia,  he  was  joined  by  Gaines,  who  had 
hastened  back  from  Amelia  Island  before  he  knew  he  was 
superseded  in  the  campaign,  and  March  9th  the  commander 
reached  Fort  Scott.' 

In  the  meantime,  the  Indians  were  in  much  confusion.  The 
best  estimates  make  them  not  more  than  twelve  hundred, 
although  the  warlike  Gaines  was  disposed  to  have  the  number 
twice  as  large.  They  had  no  concerted  plans  for  resistance. 
All  their  hopes  lay  in  aid  from  the  British  and  even  Gaines  said 
that  they  would  submit  as  soon  as  they  realized  that  this  hope 
was  vain.'  Arbuthnot  could  give  them  no  comfort  and  exerted 
himself  to  save  his  red  friends  from  the  ruin  which  threatened 
them.  They  were  too  much  infuriated  to  submit  to  the  Ameri- 
cans, but  their  resistance  was  never  formidable,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  they  would  have  made  peace  after  a  few  vigorous 
raids  against  their  towns,  if  the  Americans  had  not  coveted 
Florida. 

The  Indians  took  the  attack  on  Fowltown,  November  21st, 
as  the  beginning  of  war.  They  remained  armed  in  the  vicinity 
and  a  few  days  later  attacked  a  body  of  troops  which  were  sent 
to  reconnoitre.  November  30th,  they  ambushed  a  boat  in  the 
Apalachicola  and  killed  or  captured  all  but  six  of  its  forty- 
seven  occupants,  including  soldiers  and  seven  women.'  This 
could  only  provoke  the  utmost  vengeance  of  the  United  States. 
The  hostiles  realized  it  and  heard  with  awe  that  their  punishment 
was  committed  to  the  terrible  Jackson.     They  dared  not  with- 


^American  State  Papers,  Military,  I.,  687,  6go,  696,  698. 
2/6JJ,  69X,  686. 
>Ibid,  686,  687. 


252  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

stand  him  and  fled  before  his  face  into  the  bounds  of  the  Spanish 
province. 

At  Fort  Scott,  Jackson  commanded  less  than  2,000  men, 
800  regulars,  900  Georgia  militia  and  a  small  body  of  friendly 
Creeks.  These  were  threatened  with  starvation  and  he  marched 
immediately  for  the  mouth  of  the  river,  where  he  knew  ships  with 
provisions  from  Mobile  were  detained  by  adverse  winds.  March 
1 6th  he  arrived  at  the  site  of  the  Negro  Fort  and  began  to  repair 
it  for  a  fortified  base.  At  the  same  time  he  received  ample 
provisions  from  the  river.  He  was  now  fifteen  miles  from  the 
gulf  at  the  dividing  line  between  East  and  West  Florida,  200 
miles  east  of  Pensacola  and  250  from  St.  Augustine.  The 
intervening  country,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  posts,  was  as 
virgin  forest  as  in  the  days  of  De  Soto.  So  far  as  Spanish 
resistance  was  concerned  the  whole  province  was  at  his  mercy. 

He  took  little  time  to  make  up  his  mind  what  to  do.  Reports 
came  that  the  hostile  Indians  were  assembled  at  the  post  of 
St.  Marks,  seventy-five  miles  eastward  on  a  small  river  and 
ten  miles  from  the  coast.  He  decided  to  take  it,  and  writing 
to  the  secretary  of  war,  March  25th,'  justified  himself  as  follows: 

The  Governor  of  Pensacola  informed  Captain  Call,  of  the  ist 
infantry,  (now  here,)  that  the  Indians  had  demanded  arms,  am- 
munition, and  provisions,  or  the  possession  of  the  garrison  of 
St.  Marks  of  the  commandant,  and  that  he  presumed  possession 
would  be  given  from  inability  to  defend  it.  The  Spanish  gov- 
ernment is  bound  by  treaty*  to  keep  her  Indians  at  peace  with 
us.  They  have  acknowledged  their  incompetency  to  do  this, 
and  are  consequently  bound,  by  the  law  of  nations,  to  yield 
us  all  facilities  to  reduce  them.  Under  this  consideration,  should 
I  be  able,  I  shall  take  possession  of  the  garrison  as  a  depot  for 
my  supplies,  should  it  be  found  in  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards, 

^American  State  Papers,  Military,  I.,  698. 

'By  the  treaty  of  17QS,  the  Spaniards  agreed  to  restrain  the  Indians  within  their  borders  from  attacks  on 
the  United  States. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      253 

they  having  suppHed  the  Indians;  but  if  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  I  will  possess  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States,  as 
a  necessary  position  for  me  to  hold,  to  give  peace  and  security 
to  the  frontier,  and  put  a  final  end  to  Indian  warfare  in  the 
South. 

March  26th,  he  set  out  straight  overland  for  the  fort,  sending 
to  the  same  place  a  fleet  of  small  gunboats  which  had  joined 
him  from  Mobile  and  New  Orleans  with  orders  to  scour  the 
coast  and  intercept  any  fugitives,  "white,  red,  or  black,"  who 
sought  to  escape  his  vengeance.  On  the  march  he  was  joined 
by  a  body  of  friendly  Indians  under  the  chief  Mcintosh  and 
by  a  part  of  the  delayed  West  Tennessee  troops.  The  Indian 
towns  which  lay  in  his  way  fared  badly.  At  one  place  the  oc- 
cupants dared  to  oppose  him,  but  a  vigorous  attack  sent  them 
hurrying  to  St.  Marks,  where  many  of  their  friends  were  already 
assembled.  The  victor  paused  long  enough  to  burn  the  houses 
of  the  hostiles  and  seize  their  supplies  of  cattle  and  provisions. 
Among  the  spoils  were  found  more  than  fifty  fresh  scalps,  some 
of  which  were  recognized  as  those  of  the  party  recently  slain 
on  the  Apalachicola.  Following  the  fugitives  rapidly  the  army 
came  to  St.  Marks,  which  was  not  in  Indian  hands.  The  weak 
garrison  could  make  no  resistance,  the  place  was  handed  over  to 
the  Americans,  who  gave  receipts  for  the  movable  property 
and  established  their  own  garrison  within  it. 

Learning  then  that  another  body  of  hostiles  were  assembled 
at  Bowlegs'  town  of  Suwanee,  Jackson  marched  on  April  9th 
for  that  place,  hoping  to  take  it  by  surprise.  On  the  sixteenth 
he  came  to  the  outskirts  of  the  place  but  not  until  the  inhabi- 
tants had  information  of  his  approach.  His  attempt  to  surround 
the  warriors  proved  futile,  and  they  succeeded,  much  to  his 
disappointment,  in  escaping  across  the  river  with  the  loss  of 
nine  Negroes  and  two  Indians  killed  and  nine  Indians  and 
seven  Negroes  captured.    At  this  time  the  whole  power  of  re- 


254  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW   JACKSON 

sistance  of  the  Seminoles  was  broken,  and  their  villages  were 
burned  and  provisions  seized  or  destroyed  with  impunity. 
Results  had  shown  that  they  were  not  prepared  for  war,  however 
hostile  may  have  been  their  feelings.  Before  Jackson's  force 
of  nearly  three  thousand  white  troops  and  two  thousand  Indian 
allies  their  scattered  towns  made,  and  could  make,  the  faintest 
opposition.  As  a  military  feat  the  war  came  to  little.  It  does 
General  Jackson  credit  only  as  showing  his  remarkable  power 
of  quick  and  unrelenting  pursuit  in  the  face  of  many  difficulties 
from  bad  roads  and  scant  supplies  of  provisions.* 

Reporting  his  movement  Jackson  said,  while  at  St.  Marks, 
"Foreign  agents,  who  have  long  been  practising  their  intrigues 
and  viUanies  in  this  country,  had  free  access  to  the  fort."  He 
referred  chiefly  to  Woodbine,  who  was  fortunate  enough  to 
escape  before  the  arrival  of  Jackson,  and  Arbuthnot,  who  trusted 
unhappily  to  the  sanctity  of  Spanish  neutrality  and  was  promptly 
made  prisoner.  At  Suwanee  was  found  an  adventurer  of  kindred 
character,  Robert  C.  Ambrister,  an  English  officer  who  was 
certainly  where  he  had  no  business  to  be.  Both  were  held 
prisoners  for  trial  by  court-martial.' 

Two  other  captives  were  the  Indian  chiefs  Francis  and  Hi- 
moUimico.  Awaiting  in  despair  the  arrival  of  Jackson,  they 
were  cheered  to  learn  that  a  boat  was  in  the  harbor  fxying  the 
British  flag.  Francis  was  recently  returned  from  England  and 
believed  it  was  help  from  that  quarter,  with  arms  and  supplies. 
Taking  his  trusted  assistant,  Flimollimico,  he  rowed  ten  miles 
to  the  anchorage  and  went  aboard  in  all  confidence.  He  was 
received  with  tokens  of  friendship  and  laying  aside  his  arms 
went  below  to  drink  with  the  commander.  At  a  signal  he  was 
seized  and  bound,  and  when  he  protested  was  informed  that  he 
was  a  prisoner  on  an  American  gunboat.     It  was,  in  fact,  one 

^American  State  Papers,  Military,  I.,  6g9,  700. 
^Americart  State  Papers,  Military,  I.,  700. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      255 

of  the  fleet  which  Jackson  despatched  to  the  coast  to  intercept 
fugitives.  The  commander  displayed  the  British  flag  to  attract 
the  flying  Indians.  The  next  day  the  two  prisoners  were  sent 
to  the  fort  where  they  were  summarily  hanged  by  the  orders 
of  the  commanding  general.'  The  manner  of  taking  them, 
though  no  worse  than  the  ruses  ordinarily  practised  by  the 
Indians,  has  usually  shocked  the  Americans'  sense  of  fair  play. 
The  relentlessness  of  the  execution  and  the  courageous  bearing 
of  Francis,  who  had  the  charm  of  manner  of  the  best  specimens 
of  his  race,  have  served  to  contrast  the  characters  of  the  two 
warriors,  American  and  Indian,  without  disadvantage  to  the 
latter. 

The  fate  of  the  two  white  prisoners  was  equally  severe,  al- 
though pronounced  with  more  formality.  The  court-martial 
before  which  they  were  sent  was  taken  from  a  population  ac- 
customed to  hate  Woodbine  and  who  had  till  very  recently 
believed  that  "Arbuthnot"  was  an  alias  for  "Woodbine." 
The  escape  of  this  leader  of  Negro  and  Indian  troops  before 
the  arrival  of  the  army  was  a  disappointment,  and  put  them 
into  a  frame  of  mind  to  have  a  vicarious  victim,  and  this 
boded  ill  for  the  veritable  Arbuthnot.  He  was  charged  with 
inciting  the  Indians  to  war  against  the  United  States,  he  being 
a  citizen  of  Great  Britain,  and  with  acting  as  a  spy  for  the 
Indians  and  furnishing  them  with  arms  and  other  assistance.  A 
third  charge  alleged  that  he  had  incited  the  Indians  to  kill 
Hambly  and  Doyle,  two  American  traders,  but  the  court 
decided  that  it  had  no  jurisdiction  over  that  matter.' 

In  support  of  the  first  charge  it  was  specified  that  Arbuthnot 
advised  the  Creek  chief.  Little  Prince,  not  to  execute  the  treaty 
of  Fort  Jackson  and  that  the  United  States  were  infringing  the 
treaty  of  Ghent :  also,  that  he  volunteered  to  transmit  complaints 

^Vaston,  Jackson  ii,  454,  gives  a  spirited  account  of  the  execution  of  the  two  chiefs.     See  also  statement  of 
commanding  officer,  American  State  Papers,  Military,  I.,  763. 
The  minutes  of  this  court-martial  are  in  American  Stale  Papers,  Military,  I.,  721. 


256  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

to  the  British  government  to  induce  it  to  interfere  to  see  that 
the  Indians  received  their  rights.  The  prosecution  offered  as 
witness  the  interpreter  who  translated  the  letter  for  the  Little 
Prince,  but  the  letter  itself  was  not  in  evidence.  Letters  were 
also  produced  from  Arbuthnot  to  the  governor  of  the  Bahamas 
and  to  the  British  minister  in  Washington,  showing  that 
the  writer  was  accepted  by  the  Indians  and  acted  as  an  agent 
for  them.  Another  piece  of  evidence  was  a  power  of  attorney 
signed  by  twelve  chiefs,  three  of  whom  were  old  red  sticks, 
some  of  whom  lived  in  Florida  and  some  in  the  United  States, 
giving  him  full  authority  to  represent  them  in  any  business 
whatever  and  to  write  letters  for  them. 

The  second  charge,  aiding  the  enemy,  was  supported  by  a 
letter  from  Arbutlinot  at  St.  Marks,  written  four  days  before 
Jackson's  arrival  there,  to  his  son  at  Suwanee  warning  him  to 
convey  the  father's  property  to  a  place  of  safety  and  transmitting 
to  Bowlegs  the  advice  that  it  was  useless  to  oppose  the  Ameri- 
cans. This  information,  it  was  believed,  enabled  the  savages 
to  escape  to  the  forest  and  thus  to  disappoint  Jackson's  desire 
for  vengeance.  The  prosecution  showed  also  that  the  accused 
had  ten  kegs  of  powder  for  the  Indians  and  Negroes. 

The  prisoner  introduced  little  evidence  and  spoke  in  his  own 
defense,  although  he  was  offered  counsel.  He  objected  to  the 
evidence  of  the  interpreter,  since  by  criminal  procedure  the 
contents  of  a  letter  might  not  be  introduced  by  parol,  if  the 
letter  itself  was  obtainable;  the  letter  to  his  son  was  written 
merely  to  save  his  property  and  to  warn  the  Indians  to  submit 
to  the  Americans;  and  finally,  he  said  ten  kegs  of  powder  were 
no  more  than  enough  for  hunting  by  the  Indians  and  Negroes 
with  whom  he  traded.  It  was  not  a  strong  defense  considering 
the  temper  of  his  judges.  The  story  of  the  interpreter  has  marks 
of  genuineness  and  other  documents  supported  the  contention 
that  the  accused  was  intermeddling  with  the  interpretation  of 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      257 

the  treaty.  The  court  also  could  see  that,  whatever  the  object 
of  the  writer  the  letter  to  his  son  enabled  the  foe  to  escape  the 
conqueror:  they  knew,  also,  that  ten  kegs  of  powder  sold  at 
just  this  time  to  the  enemy  of  the  American  arms  would  make 
a  difference  in  the  warlike  attitude  of  that  enemy.  After  secret 
deliberation  the  prisoner  was  found  guilty  on  each  charge  by 
a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  court.  The  verdict  was  in  no  sense 
Jackson's.  The  court  was  presided  over  by  Gaines,  then  brevet 
major-general,  as  well  trained  in  military  law  as  any  ofhcer 
in  the  army.  Of  the  twelve  other  members  six  were  of  the  regu- 
lar army  and  six  of  the  militia,  all  but  one  of  a  higher  rank  than 
captain.  It  was  a  representative  court-martial,  and  it  sen- 
tenced the  prisoner  to  death  by  hanging. 

Had  the  Seminoles  been  civilized  Arbuthnot's  intermeddling 
would  have  been  less  objectionable;  but  his  course  when  taken 
with  savages  could  not  fail  to  produce  dissatisfaction  and  lead 
to  border  massacres  and  pillaging.  He  was  too  wise  a  man  to 
fail  to  understand  this.  He  imprudently  placed  himself  in  a 
position  as  dangerous  to  his  person  as  profitable  to  his  commerce. 
The  fate  which  overtook  him,  though  not  deserved,  would  have 
been  avoided  by  a  man  of  ordinary  prudence. 

The  court-martial  next  took  up  the  case  of  Ambrister.  He 
was  a  British  citizen,  formerly  a  lieutenant  of  marines,  nephew 
of  the  governor  of  New  Providence,  and  now  about  to  return  to 
England  where  he  expected  to  be  married.  But  the  love  of  ad- 
venture was  so  strong  that  he  turned  aside  to  become  involved 
in  the  Indian  troubles  brewing  in  Florida,  having  in  mind  the 
achievement  of  Woodbine.  To  many  he  said  that  he  came  on 
the  latter's  business.  He  was  charged  with  aiding  the  Indians 
and  Negroes  and  inciting  them  to  resistance,  and  with  leading 
and  commanding  them  in  their  war  against  the  United  States. 
Evidence  shows  that  he  bore  himself  arrogantly  from  the  time 
of  his  arrival,  seizing  property  for  the  use  of  himself  and  his 


258  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

rabble  of  Negro  followers,  giving  out  ammunition  and  paint 
to  the  Indians,  and,  when  he  knew  of  Jackson's  approach, 
sending  his  followers  to  oppose  him  with  arms.  Several  com- 
promising letters  of  the  prisoner  were  introduced,  and  one  of 
them  contained  these  words:  "There  is  now  a  very  large  body 
of  Americans  and  Indians,  who  I  expect  will  attack  us  every  day, 
and  God  only  knows  how  it  will  be  decided;  but  I  must  only 
say  this  will  be  the  last  effort  with  us.  There  has  been  a  body 
of  Indians  gone  to  meet  them,  and  I  have  sent  another  party. 
I  hope  Your  Excellency  will  be  pleased  to  grant  the  favor  they 
request." 

Ambrister's  defense  was  weaker  than  Arbuthnot's.  The 
letter  just  quoted  showed  that  he  both  incited  the  Indians 
and  led  them.  He  pleaded  not  guilty  of  the  former  charge 
and  guilty  with  justification  of  the  latter;  but  at  the  last  threw 
himself  on  the  mercy  of  the  court.  The  verdict  was  guilty  and 
the  sentence  was  death  by  shooting.  After  sentence  was  an- 
nounced a  member  of  the  court  asked  for  a  reconsideration, 
which  was  granted,  and  the  sentence  was  changed  to  fifty  lashes 
on  the  bare  back  and  a  year's  imprisonment  at  hard  labor. 
This  leniency  seems  to  have  been  due  to  the  fact  that  Ambrister 
had  been  led  on  solely  by  love  of  adventure:  the  court  probably 
felt  that  Arbuthnot,  who  was  an  old  man,  acted  from  design 
and  was  more  culpable.  But  Jackson  had  no  leniency  for 
either  prisoner.  He  approved  of  the  verdicts  as  orginally 
given,  setting  aside  the  second  sentence  of  Ambrister  on  the 
ground  that  the  court  had  no  right  to  reconsider.  His  position 
has  this  in  its  favor,  that  if  a  court  can  revoke  its  sentences  it 
assumes  the  pardoning  power,  which  it  was  never  meant  to 
exercise.  The  court  ended  its  labors  on  April  28th,  during 
the  night  Jackson  gave  his  approval  to  the  verdict,  and  at 
daylight  on  the  twenty-ninth  he  set  out  for  Fort  Gadsden.  A 
few  hours  later  Ambrister  was  shot  and   Arbuthnot  hanged 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      259 

from  the  yard  of  his  own  vessel.  The  spectacle  of  their  two 
British  friends,  whom  they  had  thought  all  powerful,  thus 
summarily  disposed  of  by  the  relentless  Jackson  produced  a 
deep  and  lasting  impression  on  the  hostile  Indians. 

In  his  order  confirming  sentence  Jackson  said:  "It  is  an  es- 
tablished principle  of  the  laws  of  nations  that  any  individual 
of  a  nation  making  war  against  the  citizens  of  another  nation, 
they  being  at  peace,  forfeits  his  allegiance,  and  becomes  an 
outlaw  and  pirate."  This  doctrine  has  no  basis  in  international 
law.  Citizens  of  neutral  nations  may,  and  do,  take  part  in 
the  wars  of  belligerents  without  becoming  outlaws;  they  be- 
come prisoners  of  war  and  if  captured  are  dealt  with  by  the  rules 
of  civilized  warfare.  But  the  case  is  usually  regarded  otherwise 
in  savage  warfare,  which  is  considered  a  species  of  organized 
assassination.  A  man  who  assumes  the  responsibility  of  bringing 
on  such  a  calamity  is  in  a  sense  a  party  before  the  act  to  its  hor- 
rors and  is  not  dealt  with  in  the  same  way  as  a  soldier  in  recog- 
nized warfare.'  This  was  the  position  of  Adams,  American  sec- 
retary of  state,  when  the  matter  was  taken  up  by  the  British  gov- 
ernment. He  asserted  that  Arbuthnot  with  others  was  respon- 
sible for  the  war  and  that  they  deserved  the  punishment  of  death.' 
The  British  government  was  thus  given  no  opportunity  to  dispute 
Jackson's  definition  of  neutral  rights  but  had  to  decide  whether 
or  not  they  would  ask  retribution  for  the  punishment  given 
their  citizens,  if  it  seemed  excessive.  They  held  after  discussion 
that  the  penalty  was  not  too  great,  on  the  ground,  as  Rush,  our 
minister  to  London,  reported,  that  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister 
"had  identified  themselves,  in  part  at  least,  with  the  Indians, 
by  going  amongst  them  with  other  purposes  than  those  of  inno- 
cent trade,  by  sharing  in  their  sympathies  too  actively  when 
they  were  upon  the  eve  of  hostilities  with  the  United  States; 

'Wharton,  International  Law  Digest,  III.,  328,  348. 

'Adams  to  Erving,  MiDister  to  Spain,  November  28,  1818  American  Slate  Papers,  Foreign,  IV,  539,  544. 


26o  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

by  feeding  their  complaints;  by  imparting  to  them  counsel; 
by  heightening  their  resentments,  and  thus  at  all  events  increas- 
ing the  predisposition  which  they  found  existing  to  war,  if  they 
did  not  originally  provoke  it."*  The  fate  of  the  two  men  serves 
as  a  warning  that  irregular  agents,  whose  interests  or  enthusiasm 
lead  them  into  rash  actions,  may  not  with  impunity  imperil  the 
peaceful  relations  of  their  respective  nations  by  their  unauthorized 
interference.* 

The  incident  made  temporarily  a  powerful  impression  on  both 
the  American  and  British  public.  Jackson's  compatriots  ap- 
proved his  course  heartily.  They  believed  he  had  done  justice 
upon  two  bad  characters,  and  they  admired  the  boldness  of 
a  man  who  could  break  so  successfully  the  red  tape  of  the  foreign 
office.  Englishmen  were  indignant  that  two  of  their  fellow- 
citizens  were  so  summarily  killed  by  an  angry  frontier  general. 
They  demanded  an  explanation;  but  it  is  probable  that  there 
was  some  exaggeration  in  Castelreagh's  subsequent  remark 
to  Rush  that  war  might  have  then  occurred  "if  the  Ministry 
had  but  held  up  a  finger.'" 

Having  crushed  and  intimidated  the  Indians  there  was  now 
no  reason  why  Jackson  should  not  retire  to  American  territory 
if  his  sole  object  was  to  deal  with  the  savages.  He  left  St. 
Marks  garrisoned  by  200  American  troops,  saying  they  were 
necessary  to  keep  the  Indians  quiet.  But  they  were  too  few 
if  there  was  a  real  danger  from  that  source  and  too  many  if 
the  savages  were  crushed,  as  he  alleged.  His  true  reason  must 
have  been,  as  he  said  in  the  secret  letter  of  January  6th,  to 
hold  Florida  as  indemnity.  This  supposition  finds  confirmation 
in  his  further  movement  in  Florida.     West  of  the  Apalachicola 


■Rush  to  Adams,  January  2$,  1819,  Mss.  repwrts  in  state  department. 

The  case  is  discussed  in  Moore,  International  Law  Digest,  VII.,  207.  See  also  British  and  Foreign  State 
Papers,  i8i8-i8iq,  page  326,  where  the  correspondence  between  the  two  governments  is  given. 

'Rush,  Memoranda  of  a  Residence  at  the  Court  of  London,  (Edition  1833)  page  488.  For  Rush  on  the 
Degotiations  see  Ibid,  464,  473. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      261 

was  a  broad  territory,  in  which  the  Indians  were  not  trouble- 
some, but  which  was  significant  because  it  contained  the  town 
of  Pensacola,  without  which  American  control  of  Florida  would 
be  impossible.  Into  this  region  he  penetrated,  on  May  loth, 
with  1,200  men  to  scour  the  country,  as  he  put  it.  He  met 
no  opposition  from  the  Seminoles  but  on  the  twenty-third 
received  from  the  governor  of  Pensacola  a  written  protest  against 
this 'invasion  of  Spanish  territory.  Jackson  was  then  within 
a  day's  march  of  the  town  and  on  the  same  day  sent  peremp- 
torily an  announcement  of  his  purpose  to  occupy  the  town 
and  its  defenses.  He  supported  his  position  by  recounting  the 
violations  of  neutrality  at  St.  Marks,  which,  if  they  justified 
interference  at  that  place,  had  nothing  to  do  with  Pensacola.  He 
also  alleged  that  Indians  received  succor  at  the  latter  place. 
The  affidavits  by  which  he  tried  to  support  the  second  charge 
are  extremely  flimsy  and  hardly  weaken  the  governor's  straight- 
forward declaration  that  he  helped  only  a  small  number  of 
non-combatants  and  a  party  of  eighty-seven  men,  women,  and 
children  who  were  collected  and  sent  northward  with  the  sanction 
of  an  American  officer. 

When  he  left  Fort  Gadsden,  Jackson  was  told  that  500  warriors 
were  assembling  at  Pensacola.  He  said  he  would  occupy  the 
place  if  the  report  were  true.  No  kind  of  e^ddence  which  he 
has  preserved  shows  that  any  Indians  were  now  there,  yet  he 
proceeded  to  take  the  town  and  hold  it  subject  to  the  orders 
of  his  government.  His  own  reports  and  accompanying  docu- 
ments make  it  probable  that  his  real  reason  here,  as  at  St.  Marks, 
was  the  determination  to  hold  West  Florida,  of  which  Pensacola 
was  the  controlling  point.'  His  attitude  is  further  shown  by 
the  fact  that  he  ordered  Gaines  to  seize  St.  Augustine.  There 
was  now  no  other  reason  for  such  an  order  than  the  purpose 

>For  documents]  re3pectii>g  the  movement  against  Pensacola  see  American  State  Papers,  Military,  I., 
7oi-7ai. 


262  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

to  hold  Florida,  and  the  department  of  war  revoked  the  com- 
mand.' 

His  plans  were  accomplished  with  his  usual  promptness. 
May  24th  he  entered  Pensacola  and  sent  the  governor,  who 
took  refuge  in  the  Barrancas,  a  formal  justification  of  his  conduct, 
announcing  that  he  would  "assume  the  government  until  the 
transaction  can  be  amicably  adjusted  by  the  two  governments." 
The  Spaniard  replied  politely,  defending  his  conduct,  requiring 
the  invaders  to  leave  Spanish  territory  as  soon  as  they  obtained 
necessary  supplies,  and  closing  by  saying:  '*If  contrary  to  my 
hopes,  Your  Excellency  should  persist  in  your  intention  to  occupy 
this  fortress,  which  I  am  resolved  to  defend  to  the  last  extremity, 
I  shall  repel  force  by  force;  and  he  who  resists  aggression  can 
never  be  considered  an  aggressor.  God  preserve  Your  Excellency 
many  years."    To  this  Jackson  replied  as  follows: 

Sir:  The  accusations  against  you  are  founded  on  the  most 
unquestionable  evidence.  I  have  the  certificates  of  individuals 
who,  on  the  23rd  inst.,  at  or  near  the  little  bayou,  counted 
seventeen  Indians  in  company  with  several  Spanish  officers.' 
I  have  only  to  repeat  that  the  Barrancas  must  be  occupied  by 
an  American  garrison,  and  again  to  tender  you  the  terms  offered, 
if  amicably  surrendered.  Resistance  would  be  a  wanton  sacri- 
fice of  blood,  for  which  you  and  your  garrison  would  have  to 
atone.  You  cannot  expect  to  defend  yourself  successfully, 
and  the  first  shot  from  your  fort  must  draw  upon  you  the  ven- 
geance of  an  irritated  soldiery.     I  am  well  advised  of  your 

■Parton,  Jackson,  II.,  sss- 

'Jackson  seems  to  have  referred  to  the  following  certificates:  By  Richard  Brickham;  "I  certify  that  on 
the  23d  of  May,  being  in  the  bayou,  which  enters  Pensacola  Bay,  one  and  a  half  miles  from  the  town,  I  saw 
at  the  ferry,  on  the  road  to  the  Barrancas,  a  number  of  Indians,  I  think  about  seventeen,  in  company  with 
four  Spanish  officers.  The  officers  were  carried  over,  and  the  boat  returned  to  ferry  over  the  Indians.  I  saw 
one  boat-load  landed  on  the  side  next  the  Barrancas.  The  Indians  concealed  themselves  in  the  bushes  on 
discovering  us." 

By  John  Bonners:"  I  certify  that  I  was  in  a  boat  with  Brickham  atjthe  place  and  time  mentioned  in  the  above 
certificate;  that  I  saw  several  Indians  in  company  with  four  Spanish  officers.  The  officers  were  ferried  over 
with  one  Indian.      I  did  not  see  the  Indians  ferried  over;  they  concealed  themselves  on  discovering  us." 

It  is  not  alleged  that  these  Indians  were  warriors,  or  even  warlike;  the  number  is  not  definite;  and  nothing 
in  the  statements  contradicts  the  governor's  admission  that  he  aided  peaceful  Indians  who  lived  around 
Pensacola  in  small  numbers,  as  he  had  a  right  to  do. 


CRUSHING  THE  SEMINOLES  IN  FLORIDA      263 

strength,  and  cannot  but  remark  on  the  inconsistency  of  pre- 
suming yourself  capable  of  resisting  an  army  which  has  conquered 
the  Indian  tribes,  too  strong,  agreeably  to  your  own  acknowl- 
edgement, to  be  controlled  by  you.  If  the  force  which  you 
are  now  disposed  wantonly  to  sacrifice  had  been  wielded  against 
the  Seminoles,  the  American  troops  had  never  entered  the 
Floridas.  I  applaud  your  feeUng  as  a  soldier  in  wishing  to 
defend  your  post;  but  when  resistance  is  ineffectual,  and  the 
opposing  forces  overwhelming,  the  sacrifice  of  a  few  brave  men 
is  an  act  of  wantonness,  for  which  the  commanding  officer 
must  be  accountable  to  his  God. 

Approaching  the  Barrancas  the  Americans  were  received  with 
a  brisk  fire,  and  prepared  to  carry  the  place  by  storm;  but  the 
besieged  governor  would  not  allow  matters  to  go  to  that  stage. 
Feeling  that  his  resistance  was  enough  to  show  his  loyalty  to 
duty,  he  surrendered  the  fortifications,  marching  out  with 
the  honors  of  war.  Jackson  agreed  to  transmit  him,  the  soldiers, 
and  the  civil  officials  to  Havana,  to  receipt  for  military  and  other 
public  property,  and  to  hold  the  town  and  province  subject  to 
the  determination  of  the  American  and  Spanish  governments. 
"The  terms,"  reported  Jackson  to  his  government,  "are  more 
favorable  than  a  conquered  enemy  would  have  merited,  but, 
under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case,  my  object  obtained, 
there  was  no  motive  for  wounding  the  feelings  of  those  whose 
military  pride  or  honor  had  prompted  to  the  resistance  made." 
To  his  friend  Campbell  he  wrote  more  confidentially:  "AU 
that  I  regret  is  that  I  had  not  stormed  the  works,  captured 
the  governor,  put  him  on  trial  for  the  murder  of  Stokes  and  his 
family  and  hung  him  for  the  deed." ' 

The  Barrancas  surrendered  May  28th,  and  the  next  day  its 
captor  was  on  his  way  to  Tennessee.  He  left  the  Spanish 
civil    administration   intact,   except   as   to  the  customs.    The 


'Cited  by  Parton,  Jackson,  II.,  soo.     Stokes  was  an  American  recently  murdered  in  an  Indian  raid. 


264  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

United  States  revenue  laws  were  ordered  in  force,  a  revenue  col- 
lector with  necessary  subordinates  was  appointed  to  execute 
them,  and  a  garrison  gave  the  proper  support.  At  a  banquet 
in  Nashville  in  honor  of  the  returning  hero  one  of  the  toasts  was : 
"Pensacola  —  Spanish  perfidy  and  Indian  barbarity  rendered 
its  capture  necessary.  May  our  government  never  surrender 
it  from  the  fear  of  war."  This  toast  voiced  the  popular  feeling 
that  Florida  must  be  retained.  Many  persons  beheved  that 
it  would  never  return  to  Spain,  among  them  land  speculators 
who  bought  extensively  in  real  estate  at  Pensacola.  One  of 
them  was  the  colonel  commanding  the  garrison  left  there.  Sub- 
sequent developments  punctured  the  boom  and  the  venturesome 
colonel  confessed  that  he  had  "burnt  his  fingers.'"  But  before 
this  episode  was  accomplished  the  invasion  of  Florida  was  made 
to  play  a  prominent  part  in  the  nation's  diplomacy  and  politics. 

»Col.  William  King  to  Col.  R.  Butler,  December  g,  1818,  Jackson  Mss. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   SEMINOLE   WAR   IN   RELATION   TO   DIPLOMACY   AND   POLITICS 

Jackson's  invasion  of  Florida  produced  important  historical 
results  in  both  diplomatic  and  political  affairs.  It  thrust 
itself  into  the  midst  of  a  long  and  deHcate  negotiation  for  the 
purchase  of  Florida,  threatening  at  the  time  to  defeat  it,  and 
probably  helping  to  bring  it  at  last  to  a  favorable  conclusion 
by  showing  Spain  how  precarious  was  her  hold  on  the  province. 
It  became  a  rallying  point  for  antagonistic  groups  of  politicians, 
placing  Clay  in  life-long  opposition  to  the  Tennessee  hero,  whom 
it  drew  to  the  ranks  of  his  opponents;  and  in  this  sense 
it  may  be  regarded  as  the  starting  point  of  a  thirty-years'  con- 
flict between  the  two  men. 

Our  negotiations  for  Florida  began  as  early  as  Jefferson's 
administration.  They  were  complicated  by  many  matters  and 
made  no  progress  for  ten  years;  but  in  1817,  there  was  a  change 
of  ministry  in  Madrid  which  favored  our  hopes.  George  W. 
Erving,  our  minister  at  that  court,  was  surprised  to  receive, 
on  August  17th,  from  Pizarro,  the  Spanish  minister,  a  proposi- 
tion to  cede  Florida  in  exchange  for  all  of  Louisiana  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  from  its  source  to  its  mouth.'  The  offer,  of  course, 
was  impossible;  but  President  Monroe  took  it  as  sign  of  yielding, 
and  redoubled  his  efforts.  The  negotiations  were  transferred 
to  Washington  and  went  forward  under  the  immediate  super- 
vision of  Secretary  Adams.  In  an  interview  on  December  19th, 
Onis,  the  Spanish  minister  in  Washington,  began  these  fresh 

^American  Slate  Papers,  Foreign,  IV,  443. 

26s 


266  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

negotiations;  the  date  was  three  days  after  Calhoun  first  gave 
Gaines  permission  to  pursue  the  Indians  into  Florida  but  with 
orders  not  to  attack  a  fortified  post. 

For  three  months  the  discussion  proceeded  tediously  but 
hopefully,  much  argument  being  held  on  the  questions  of  boun- 
daries and  claims.  While  the  business  was  in  this  stage,  Monroe 
asserted,  in  a  message  of  March  25,  18 18,  that  most  of  the  hos- 
tile Seminoles  lived  in  Florida;  that  Spain  failed  to  restrain 
them  from  attacking  the  Americans,  as  by  treaty  she  was  bound 
to  do;  and  that  the  United  States  would  be  justified  in  entering 
Florida  to  punish  the  savages,  but  without  insult  to  the  Spanish 
authorities  there,  withdrawing  as  soon  as  their  object  was  ac- 
complished. Onis  resented  this  criticism  and  protested  to 
Adams  with  many  arguments  to  show  that  Spain  had  kept 
faith.' 

Soon  after  this  the  newspapers  began  to  speak  of  Jackson's 
expedition  into  Florida  and  to  hint  at  further  designs  than 
punishing  the  Indians.  Onis  discounted  such  rumors  and  made 
no  protest  until  at  the  middle  of  June  he  received  official  in- 
formation from  the  governor  of  West  Florida.  His  indignation 
burst  forth  immediately  and  treaty  negotiations  were  suspended. 
"How  was  it  possible,"  he  exclaimed,  "to  believe  that  at  the 
very  moment  of  a  negotiation  for  settling  and  terminating 
amicably  all  the  pending  differences  between  the  two  nations, 
and  while  Spain  was  exhibiting  the  most  generous  proofs  of 
a  good  understanding,  and  the  most  faithful  observance  of  all 
the  duties  of  good  neighborhood,  the  troops  of  the  United  States 
should  invade  the  Spanish  provinces,  insult  the  commanders 
and  officers  of  their  garrisons,  and  forcibly  seize  on  the  military 
posts  and  places  in  those  provinces?"  He  closed  a  catalogue 
of  wrongs  by  saying:  "In  fine,  General  Jackson  has  omitted 
nothing  that  characterizes  a  haughty  conqueror  but  the  cir- 

^Amerkan  State  Papers,  Foreign,  IV.,  486. 


SEMINOLE   WAR  —  DIPLOMACY   AND   POLITICS     267 

cumstances  of  adding  to  these  monstrous  acts  of  hostility  the 
contradictory  expressions  of  peace  and  friendship  with  Spain.'" 
The  wrath  of  Onis  was  not  greater  than  that  of  Pizarro. 
During  the  summer  he  conducted  with  Erving  a  most  amiable 
negotiation,  and  several  of  the  disputed  points  were  already 
removed  when  news  came  in  August  of  the  course  of  Jackson 
in  Florida.  At  first,  he  contented  himself  with  a  protest,  as- 
suming, as  it  seems,  that  Jackson  would  be  disavowed;  but 
when  Onis  reported  that  no  such  action  was  taken  in  Washington 
the  resentment  of  the  minister  burst  forth.  Renewing  his 
protest  he  declared : 

In  consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  said  injuries  and  acts 
essentially  hostile,  the  course  of  the  pending  negotiations  be- 
tween the  two  governments  shall  be,  and  accordingly  is,  sus- 
pended and  interrupted,  until  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  shall  mark  the  conduct  of  General  Jackson  in  a  manner 
correspondent  with  its  good  faith,  which  appears  to  be  no  other 
than  by  disapproving  the  aforementioned  excesses,  giving 
orders  to  reinstate  everything  as  it  was  previous  to  the  invasion, 
and  inflicting  a  suitable  punishment  on  the  author  of  such 
flagrant  disorders.' 

Monroe  was,  indeed,  slow  to  act  in  the  matter,  for  there 
were  many  difficulties.  He  was  anxious  to  complete  the  ne- 
gotiations for  Florida,  and  individually  he  disapproved  of  its 
occupation,  but  Jackson's  popularity  was  so  great  that  the 
administration  dared  not  comply  with  all  of  Pizarro's  demands. 
The  matter  first  came  up  in  the  cabinet  on  July  15,  1818,  in 
reply  to  Onis's  protest.  Monroe  and  all  his  advisers  but  the 
secretary  of  state  believed  that  Jackson  had  violated  his  instruc- 
tion. Calhoun  was  especially  strong  and  gave  the  impression 
that  he  was  touched  in  his  pride  because  his  orders  were  not 

mid,  495- 
*Ibid,  saa. 


268  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

followed.  Adams  held  that  all  Jackson  did  in  Florida  was  de- 
fensive and  incident  to  his  main  duty  to  crush  the  Seminoles, 
and  he  added  that  Pensacola  ought  to  be  held  until  Spain  gave 
guarantee  to  restrain  her  Indians  from  attacks  on  the  United 
States;  but  he  changed  the  latter  position  when  convinced  by 
argument  that  territory  cannot  be  acquired  under  the  consti- 
tution without  an  act  of  congress.  A  long  debate  resulted  in 
three  documents:  (i)  A  letter  to  Onis  announcing  that  Pensacola 
and  St.  Marks  would  be  given  up;  (2)  a  letter  to  Jackson  calcu- 
lated to  soften  the  blow  and  preserve  his  good-will  by  explaining 
the  constitutional  objections  to  the  acquisition  of  Florida  by 
invasion;  (3)  a  letter  by  Wirt,  attorney-general,  for  publication 
in  the  National  Intelligencer  by  which  it  was  sought  to  secure 
popular  support.' 

In  these  discussions  Adams,  whose  diplomacy  was  apt  to  be 
aggressive,  was  disappointed  because  Monroe  did  not  take  a 
more  positive  position.  But  when,  in  November,  despatches 
came  from  Erving,  inclosing  Pizarro's  notes  of  the  preceding 
summer,  he  welcomed  the  opportunity  to  go  to  the  bottom  of  the 
matter.  His  reply  was  excellent."  It  began  with  the  assertion 
that  Jackson  occupied  Florida  not  by  orders,  but  as  an  incident 
"which  occurred  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  against  the  In- 
dians"; and  since  Pizarro  intimated  that  the  situation  might 
result  in  war,  it  would  be  well  to  review  the  Seminole  troubles 
from  their  origin.  They  began  with  the  arrival  of  NichoUs 
and  Woodbine,  who  made  Pensacola  their  base  of  operations, 
and,  when  driven  out  by  Jackson,  planted  themselves  on  the 
Apalachicola  to  send  forth  the  Indians  and  Negroes  to  distress 
the  defenseless  American  settlers.  But  all  this  might  be  buried 
in  oblivion  with  other  transactions  of  war  but  for  the  conduct 


'Adams,  AfeworVi,  IV.,  107-120.  For  the  documents  sec:  i.  American  State  Papers,  Foreign,  IV.,  508; 
1.     Monroe,  Writings,  VI.,  S4;  3-  National  Intelligencer,  July  27,  1818. 

"^American  State  Papers,  Foreign,  IV.,  539.  With  Adams's  despatch  are  published  many  documents  on  the 
invasion  of  Florida,  Ibid,  545-612. 


SEMINOLE   WAR  —  DIPLOMACY   AND   POLITICS     269 

of  Nicholls  and  Woodbine  after  the  return  of  peace.     They 
fired  the  resentment  of  the  Creeks  by  the  assurance  that  the 
treaty  of  Ghent  protected  them,  by  holding  out  the  hope  of  aid 
from  Britain,  by  making  a  pretended  treaty  with  them,  by 
sending  threatening  letters  to  the  American  officials,  by  con- 
structing the  fort  on  the  Apalachicola,  by  furnishing  arms  and 
ammunition,  and  by  many  other  actions  which  tended  to  incite 
them  to  war  on  the  United  States,  until  at  last  the  maddened 
savages  sallied  across  the  frontier  and  killed  American  citizens. 
All  this  was  done  in  plain  view  of  the  Spanish  officials  who  did 
not  try  to  check  it.    Nor  did  it  cease  with  the  departure  of 
Nicholls.    Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister  took  up  his  work  fanning 
the  flame  of  discontentment,  the  Indian  outrages  continued 
and  became  more  severe,  until  at  last  it  was  necessary  for  the 
United  States  to  begin  war.    But  how  should  the  enemy  be 
humbled  without  crossing  the  Spanish  line,  since  they  made  it 
a  safe  refuge  between  their  raids?    General  Jackson  believed 
it  was  necessary  to  follow  the  foe  into  Florida,  not  as  an  enemy 
of  Spain,  but  solely  to  reach  an  insolent  foe.    As  he  approached 
St.  Marks  he  learned  that  it  was  likely  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  Indians,  who  were  collected  there  in  large  numbers  —  and 
the   information  was  from  the  governor  of  Pensacola  himself. 
For  this  reason  he  occupied  the  fort,  as  he  announced,  till  Spain 
was  able  to  garrison  it  strongly  enough  to  hold  it  against  the 
Indians.    Also,   he  learned   that   the  governor    of    Pensacola, 
ruling  over  West  Florida,  had  given  various  acts  of  assistance 
to  the  enemy,  and  he  marched  into  that  province.     When  he 
received  from  the  governor  a  warning  that  he  would  be  expelled 
by  force  if  he  did  not  leave  at  once,  he  took  it  as  a  challenge 
and  to  prevent  his  own  ejectment  seized  the  town  of  Pensacola 
and  its  defenses.    He  continued  to  hold  the  two  places  because 
he  believed  they  would  be  used  to  protect  the  Indians  if  he  left 
them  in  the  hands  of  Spain.    Regardless  of  this  very  justifiable 


270  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

precaution  the  United  States  had  shown  its  good  intentions  by 
ordering  the  posts  to  be  given  up  unconditionally;  "but  the 
President,"  continued  the  secretary,  "will  neither  inflict  punish- 
ment, nor  pass  a  censure  upon  General  Jackson,  for  that  conduct, 
the  motives  of  which  were  founded  in  the  purest  patriotism; 
of  the  necessity  for  which  he  had  the  most  immediate  and 
effectual  means  of  forming  a  judgment;  and  the  vindication 
of  which  is  written  in  every  page  of  the  law  of  nations,  as  well 
as  in  the  first  law  of  nature  —  self-defense."  On  the  contrary, 
the  President  thought  that  Spain  ought  to  order  an  inquiry 
of  the  conduct  of  the  governors  of  Pensacola  and  St.  Marks. 
Adams  came  more  closely  to  the  point  in  the  following  candid 
and  strong  statement: 

If,  as  the  commanders  both  at  Pensacola  and  St.  Marks 
have  alleged,  this  has  been  the  result  of  their  weakness  rather 
than  of  their  will;  if  they  have  assisted  the  Indians  against 
the  United  States  to  avert  their  hostilities  from  the  province 
which  they  had  not  sufficient  force  to  defend  against  them,  it 
may  serve  in  some  measure  to  exculpate,  individually,  those 
officers;  but  it  must  carry  demonstration  irresistible  to  the 
Spanish  Government,  that  the  right  of  the  United  States  can 
as  little  compound  with  impotence  as  with  perfidy,  and  that 
Spain  must  immediately  make  her  election,  either  to  place  a 
force  in  Florida  adequate  at  once  to  the  protection  of  her  terri- 
tory, and  to  the  fulfilment  of  her  engagements,  or  cede  to  the 
United  States  a  province,  of  which  she  retains  nothing  but  the 
nominal  possession,  but  which  is,  in  fact,  a  derelict,  open  to  the 
occupancy  of  every  enemy,  civilized  or  savage,  of  the  United 
States,  and  serving  no  other  earthly  purpose  than  as  a  post  of 
annoyance    to    them. 

The  force  of  this  argument  was  not  lost  on  Pizarro.  Nothing 
further  appears  in  regard  to  the  demand  that  Jackson  be  punished, 
and  the  Florida  negotiations,  which  were  already  resumed, 
proceeded  so  fast  that  on  February  22,  18 19,  Monroe  was  able 


SEMINOLE   WAR  —  DIPLOMACY   AND    POLITICS     271 

to  send  to  the  senate  a  treaty  which  gave  us  the  long-sought 
territory. 

Adams's  defense  of  Jackson  was  the  strongest  that  could  be 
made,  but  it  smacked  of  the  advocate  and  it  had  certain  weak 
points.  Spain's  responsibility  for  Nicholls,  Arbuthnot,  Am- 
brister,  and  Woodbine,  her  complicity  with  England,  who  was 
allowed  to  use  Pensacola  as  a  base  in  the  war  of  181 2,  her  har- 
boring fugitive  Creeks,  who  sallied  forth  to  attack  the  Ameri- 
can frontier  during  that  war,  and,  later,  her  failure  even  to  try 
to  restrain  her  own  savages  from  similar  attacks,  and  her  weak- 
ness in  guarding  her  territory  are  all  points  well  taken;  but 
they  lose  some  of  their  force  because  American  territory  was 
for  a  long  time  safe  refuge  for  filibusters  against  Spain.  Weaker 
still  is  Adams's  contention  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  St. 
Marks  to  keep  it  from  falling  into  Indian  hands,  since  such  a 
catastrophe  was  in  nowise  imminent;  nor  can  one  pay  considera- 
ble attention  to  Jackson's  reason  for  seizing  Pensacola.  Weakest 
of  all  was  the  defense  of  Jackson's  holding  West  Florida  and  the 
district  adjoining  the  Apalachicola  on  the  east  under  the  pre- 
text that  such  a  course  was  necessary  to  keep  down  an  enemy 
who,  according  to  Jackson's  own  statement,  was  utterly  crushed. 
The  American  government  recognized  this,  and  announced  at 
once  that  it  would  restore  the  province  to  its  rightful  owners, 
not,  as  Adams  blandly  said,  as  an  act  of  grace,  but  because  it 
had  no  justifiable  ground  for  doing  otherwise.  Adams's 
pugnacious  arguments  were  useful  to  make  Spain  realize  her 
insecure  hold  on  Florida.  With  Central  and  South  America 
gone  from  her  grasp,  Jackson's  easy  conquest  warned  her  that 
it  was  good  policy  to  sell  for  cash  what  otherwise  she  would 
eventually  lose  at  the  expense  of  war  and  national  disgrace. 

The  acquisition  of  Florida  involved  the  sacrifice  of  Texas; 
for  Spain  secured  by  the  treaty  the  recognition  of  the  Sabine 
as  the  Louisiana  boundary  on  the  southwest.     Several  things 


272  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

combined  to  induce  Monroe  to  make  this  concession.  One 
was  the  influence  of  Crawford,  who  sought  to  give  safety  to 
the  borders  of  Georgia,  his  own  state;  another  was  the  desire 
to  avoid  aggravating  the  slavery  controversy,  then  already  suf- 
ficiently annoying  in  the  Missouri  question;  and  still  another  was 
the  conviction  that  Florida  at  that  time  was  worth  more  to  the 
nation  than  Texas.  Secretary  Adams  resisted  the  abandonment 
of  our  claim  to  the  Southwest,  but  his  opposition  was  not  public. 
Clay,  on  the  other  hand,  denounced  the  proceedings  in  congress. 
Although  not  openly  concerned  in  the  discussion,  Jackson 
agreed  with  Monroe,  partly  through  his  general  support  of  the 
administration,  partly  because  he  disliked  Clay,  and  partly 
from  his  long-cherished  desire  to  acquire  Florida.  Monroe, 
who  at  this  time  had  a  nervous  respect  for  his  opinion,  wrote 
him  his  reasons  for  approving  the  Florida  treaty.  Jackson's 
reply  contained  the  following  expression: 

I  am  clearly  of  your  opinion  that,  for  the  present,  we  ought 
to  be  content  with  the  Floridas  —  fortify  them,  concentrate 
our  population,  confine  our  frontier  to  proper  hmits,  until  our 
country,  to  those  limits,  is  filled  with  a  dense  population.  It 
is  the  denseness  of  our  population  that  gives  strength  and  se- 
curity to  our  frontier.  With  the  Floridas  in  our  possession, 
our  fortifications  completed,  Orleans,  the  great  emporium  of 
the  West,  is  secure.  The  Floridas  in  the  possession  of  a  foreign 
power,  you  can  be  invaded,  your  fortifications  turned,  the 
Mississippi  reached  and  the  lower  country  reduced.  From 
Texas  an  invading  enemy  will  never  attempt  such  an  enterprise; 
if  he  does,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  and  asserted 
on  the  floor  of  Congress  on  this  subject,  I  will  vouch  that  the 
invader  will  pay  for  his  temerity."' 

In  1836  the  advocates  of  Texan  annexation  were  denouncing 
the   treaty   of    18 19.     Their   opponents   rephed   that   Jackson 

'Jackson  to  Monroe,  June  20, 1820,  Parton,  Jackson  II.,  584;  Monroe  to  Jackson,  May  23, 1820,  Writings, 
VI.,  126,  Niles,  Register,  LXII.,  138;  Adams,  Memoirs,  IV.,  275. 


SEMINOLE   WAR  —  DIPLOMACY   AND   POLITICS    273 

supported  that  treaty,  and  John  Quincy  Adams  in  the  house 
described  an  interview  in  which  General  Jackson,  in  1819, 
freely  expressed  himself  to  that  effect  for  the  benefit  of  President 
Monroe.  Jackson  pointedly  denied  the  interview.  Adams 
supported  himself  from  his  diary,  and  the  two  men  were  left 
before  the  public  with  an  unsettled  point  of  veracity  between 
them.  Each  was  doubtless  honest,  but  in  view  of  the  evidence 
of  Adams's  diary  we  are  led  to  suppose  that  the  irritable  and 
convinced  mind  of  Jackson  had  played  him  a  trick.' 

When  the  cabinet  adopted  its  Florida  pohcy,  it  left  to  Monroe 
the  task  of  pacifying  Jackson,  whose  strong  temper  was  well 
known.  Calhoun  might  have  had  the  duty,  but  it  was  wiser 
to  leave  it  to  the  President,  who  was  an  old  friend  and  whose 
disposition  was  smooth  and  pliant.  His  letter  of  July  19,  1818, 
met  all  expectations.  With  the  greatest  show  of  candor  he 
promised  in  the  outset  to  conceal  nothing  that  his  correspondent 
ought  to  know  and  proceeded  as  follows: 

In  calling  you  into  active  service  against  the  Seminoles, 
and  communicating  to  you  the  orders  which  had  been  given 
just  before  to  General  Gaines,  the  views  and  intentions  of  the 
Government  were  fully  disclosed  in  respect  to  the  operations 
in  Florida.  In  transcending  the  limits  prescribed  by  those 
orders  you  acted  on  your  own  responsibility,  on  facts  and  cir- 
cumstances which  were  unknown  to  the  Government  when 
the  orders  were  given,  many  of  which,  indeed,  occurred  after- 
wards, and  which  you  thought  imposed  on  you  the  measure,  as 
an  act  of  patriotism,  essential  to  the  honor  and  interests  of 
your  country. 

It  was  proper  to  follow  the  Indians  into  Florida,  but  an 
order  by  the  Government  to  attack  a  Spanish  post  would 
assume  another  character.  It  would  authorize  war,  to 
which,  by  the  principles  of  our  Constitution,  the  Executive 
is  incompetent.     Congress  alone  possesses  the  power.    I  am 


^Sewaid,  Adams,  377. 


2  74  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

aware  that  cases  may  occur  where  the  commanding  general, 
acting  on  his  own  responsibility,  may  with  safety  pass  the 
limit,  and  with  essential  advantage  to  his  country.  The  officers 
and  troops  of  the  neutral  power  forget  the  obligations  incident 
to  their  neutral  character;  they  stimulate  the  enemy  to  make 
war;  they  furnish  them  with  arms  and  munitions  of  war  to 
carry  it  on;  they  take  an  active  part  in  their  favor;  they  afford 
them  an  asylum  in  their  retreat.  The  general  obtaining  victory 
pursues  them  to  their  post,  the  gates  of  which  are  shut  against 
him;  he  attacks  and  carries  it,  and  rests  on  those  acts  for  his 
justification. 

Was  evidence  ever  more  ingeniously  distorted  in  the  mouth 
of  a  special  pleader?  It  was  not  charged  that  Spanish  officers 
stimulated  the  Seminoles  to  war,  or  that  they  furnished  arms, 
or  took  part  in  the  struggle;  nor  is  it  quite  true  that  Jackson 
pursued  his  enemy  to  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola.  But  this 
clever  array  of  assumptions  was  calculated  to  please  Jackson,  and 
it  was  made  to  introduce  a  still  more  subtle  appeal  to  his  vanity. 

The  affair  is  then  brought  before  his  government  by  the 
power  whose  post  has  thus  been  attacked  and  carried.  If  the 
government  whose  officer  made  the  attack  had  given  an  order 
for  it,  the  officer  would  have  no  merit  in  it.  He  exercised  no  dis- 
cretion, nor  did  he  act  on  his  own  responsibility.  The  merit 
of  the  service,  if  there  be  any  in  it,  would  not  be  his.  This  is 
the  ground  on  which  the  occurrence  rests  as  to  his  part. 

But  as  to  the  government:  it  was  now  face  to  face  with  the 
question  of  war. 

If  the  Executive  refused  to  evacuate  the  posts,  especially 
Pensacola,  it  would  amount  to  a  declaration  of  war,  to  which 
it  is  incompetent.  It  would  be  accused  of  usurping  the  authority 
of  Congress,  and  giving  a  deep  and  fatal  wound  to  the  Consti- 
tution. By  charging  the  offense  on  the  officers  of  Spain,  we  take 
the  ground  which  you  have  presented,  and  we  look  to  you  to 


SEMINOLE   WAR  —  DIPLOMACY   AND   POLITICS     275 

support  it.  You  must  aid  in  procuring  the  documents  necessary 
for  this  purpose.  Those  you  sent  by  Mr.  Hamby  were  prepared 
in  too  much  haste,  and  do  not,  I  am  satisfied,  do  justice  to  the 
cause.  This  must  be  attended  to  without  delay.  "  Should  we 
hold  the  posts,  it  is  impossible  to  calculate  all  the  consequences 
likely  to  result  from  it.  It  is  not  improbable  that  war  would 
immediately  follow.  Spain  would  be  stimulated  to  declare 
it;  and  once  declared,  the  adventurers  of  Britain  and  other 
countries,  would  under  the  Spanish  flag,  privateer  on  our  com- 
merce. The  immense  revenue  which  we  now  receive  would 
be  much  diminished,  as  would  be  the  profits  of  our  valuable 
productions.  The  war  would  doubtless  soon  become  general: 
and  we  do  not  foresee  that  we  should  have  a  single  power  in 
Europe  on  our  side.  Why  risk  these  consequences?  The 
events  which  have  occurred  in  both  the  Floridas  show  the  in- 
competency of  Spain  to  maintain  her  authority;  and  the  prog- 
ress of  the  revolutions  in  South  America  will  require  all  her 
forces  there.  There  is  much  reason  to  presume  that  this  act 
will  furnish  a  strong  inducement  to  Spain  to  cede  the  territory, 
provided  we  do  not  too  deeply  wound  her  pride  by  holding  it. 
If  we  hold  the  posts,  her  government  cannot  treat  with  honor, 
which,  by  withdrawing  the  troops,  we  afford  her  an  opportunity 
to  do.  The  manner  in  which  we  propose  to  act  will  exculpate 
you  from  censure,  and  promises  to  obtain  all  the  advantages 
which  you  contemplated  from  the  measure,  and  possibly  very 
soon.  From  a  different  course  no  advantage  would  be  likely 
to  result,  and  there  would  be  great  danger  of  extensive  and 
serious  injuries. 

These  were  excellent  arguments  and  were  calculated  to  im- 
press Jackson,  after  he  was  properly  prepared  for  them  by  the 
preceding  deft  phrases  of  flattery.  They  were  followed  by  as 
barefaced  a  connivance  at  trickery  as  a  President  of  the  United 
States  could  well  commit.     Said  Monroe: 

Your  letters  to  the  Department  were  written  in  haste,  under 
the  pressure  of  fatigue  and  infirmity,  in  a  spirit  of  conscious 
rectitude,  and,   in   consequence,  with   less   attention  to    some 


276  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

parts  of  their  contents  than  would  otherwise  have  been  bestowed 
on  them.  The  passage  to  which  I  particularly  allude,  from 
memory,  for  I  have  not  the  letter  before  me,  is  that  in  which  you 
speak  of  the  incompetency  of  an  imaginary  boundary  to  protect 
us  against  the  enemy  —  the  ground  on  which  you  bottom  all 
your  measures.  This  is  liable  to  the  imputation  that  you  took 
the  Spanish  posts  for  that  reason,  as  a  measure  of  expediency, 
and  not  on  account  of  the  misconduct  of  the  Spanish  officers. 
The  effect  of  this  and  such  passages,  besides  other  objections 
to  them,  would  be  to  invalidate  the  ground  on  which  you  stand 
and  furnish  weapons  to  adversaries  who  would  be  glad  to  seize 
them.  If  you  think  proper  to  authorize  the  secretary  or  myself 
to  correct  those  passages,  it  will  be  done  with  care,  though, 
should  you  have  copies,  as  I  presume  you  have,  you  had  better 
do  it  yourself. 

Jackson  was  little  impressed  by  Monroe's  subtleties.  Brush- 
ing aside  all  suggestions  of  Spanish  responsibility,  danger  of 
war,  and  amendment  of  despatches,  he  confined  his  reply  to 
Monroe's  two  assertions,  "That  I  transcended  the  limits  of  my 
orders  and  that  I  acted  on  my  own  responsibility."  In  the 
first  place,  he  desired  to  say  that  he  did  not  shirk  responsibility: 
"I  have  passed  through  difficulties  and  exposures  for  the  honor 
and  benefit  of  my  country;  and  whenever  still,  for  this  purpose, 
it  shall  become  necessary  to  assume  a  further  liability,  no  scruple 
will  be  urged  or  felt."  In  spite  of  a  suggestion  of  brag  this 
statement  was  absolutely  true.  With  no  allusion  to  a  Rhea 
letter  he  justified  himself  by  the  order  of  December  26,  18 17, 
which  authorized  him  to  "adopt  the  necessary  measures  to 
terminate  a  conflict  which  it  has  ever  been  the  desire  of  the 
President,  from  motives  of  humanity,  to  avoid."  This  order 
was  sweeping,  and  he  considered  it  broad  enough  to  allow  him 
to  do  what  he  thought  fit  in  the  emergency.  "The  fullest 
discretion,"  he  said,  "v/as  left  with  me  in  the  selection  and 
application  of  means  to  effect  the  specifical  legitimate  objects 


SEMINOLE   WAR  —  DIPLOMACY  AND   POLITICS    277 

of  the  campaign;  and  for  the  exercise  of  a  sound  discretion  on 
principles  of  poUcy  am  I  alone  responsible." 

October  20th,  Monroe  repHed  more  complaisantly  than  ever. 

Finding  that  you  had  a  different  view  of  your  power,  it 
remains  only  to  do  justice  to  you  on  that  ground.  Nothing 
can  be  further  from  my  intention  than  to  expose  you  to  a  re- 
sponsibility, in  any  sense,  which  you  did  not  contemplate.  The 
best  course  to  be  pursued  seems  to  me  to  be  for  you  to  write 
a  letter  to  the  Department,  in  which  you  will  state  that,  having 
reason  to  think  that  a  difference  of  opinion  existed  between  you 
and  the  Executive,  relative  to  the  extent  of  your  powers,  you 
thought  it  due  to  yourself  to  state  your  view  of  them,  and  on 
which  you  acted.  This  will  be  answered,  so  as  to  explain  ours, 
in  a  friendly  manner  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  has  very  just  and 
liberal  sentiments  on  the  subject. 

It  was  not  candid  in  Monroe  to  allow  Jackson  to  believe  that 
Calhoun  was  his  friend  in  the  Seminole  matter.  It  created  a 
false  opinion  in  the  mind  of  the  general  which  the  secretary  was 
weak  enough  to  approve  by  his  silence,  and  that  made  greater 
the  explosion  when  the  truth  at  last  came  out.  Throughout 
their  dealing  with  the  incident  the  President  and  most  of  the 
cabinet  showed  that  they  were  afraid  of  their  subordinate  whom 
the  people  considered  a  hero.  But  Monroe's  doubtful  sugges- 
tions were  met  with  Jackson's  accustomed  directness.  He 
repeated  the  assertion  that  he  had  not  transcended  instructions 
and  refused  to  be  put  in  a  position  to  open  a  discussion,  but 
he  would  not  avoid  one  if  it  was  forced  upon  him,  and  he 
said  in  dismissing  the  affair: 

There  are  no  data  at  present  upon  which  such  a  letter  as 
you  wish  written  to  the  Secretary  of  War  can  be  bottomed.  I 
have  no  ground  that  a  difference  of  opinion  exists  between  the 
government  and  myself,  relative  to  the  powers  given  me  in  my 


2  78  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

orders,  unless  I  advert  either  to  your  private  and  confidential 
letters  or  the  public  prints,  neither  of  which  can  be  made  the 
basis  of  an  official  communication  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 
Had  I  ever,  or  were  I  now  to  receive  an  official  letter  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  explanatory  of  the  Hght  in  which  it  was  in- 
tended by  the  government  that  my  orders  should  be  viewed, 
I  would  with  pleasure  give  my  understanding  of  them.' 

Calhoun  did  not  send  the  requested  letter  and  this  phase 
of  the  Seminole  affair  closed.  Already  another  phase  was 
opening,  a  poHtical  investigation  supported  primarily  by  those 
who  wished  to  discredit  the  administration  and  connived  at 
by  some  others  who  feared  Jackson  as  a  political  factor.  Now, 
as  at  other  times,  it  proved  that  his  opponents  underestimated 
his  power  with  the  people.  Their  fulminations  returned  to 
their  own  heads,  the  administration  was  not  injured,  and 
Jackson's  position  as  a  party  man  became  stronger  and  more 
definite. 

When  Jackson,  the  miHtary  hero,  appeared  on  the  stage  of 
national  poHtics  he  was  not  an  inexperienced  poUtician.  For 
many  years  he  was  an  eminent  character  in  Tennessee.  He 
belonged  to  the  faction  in  which  acted  James  Robertson  and  the 
Donelsons,  in  the  West,  and  the  Blounts,  in  the  East,  all  promi- 
nent socially  as  well  as  politically.  Probably  this  faction  was  a 
little  more  aristocratic  than  that  led  by  Sevier,  the  people's 
hero.  Strength  of  will,  self-assertion,  physical  and  intellectual 
boldness,  ability  to  make  himself  obeyed  and  feared,  were  all 
qualities  of  success  in  Tennessee.  Although  his  quarrels 
weakened  his  leadership  for  a  time,  he  had  many  friends  who 
wanted  to  bring  him  back  into  office.     The  opposition  to  him 


ipor  Moaroe's  part  of  the  correspondence  see  Momoe,  Writings,  VI,  S4.  74,  8s:  for  Jackson's  part  see 
Parton, /ac*so»  II.,  518-528,  where  Monroe's  part  is  also  given.  Jackson's  letters  in  this  affair  show  traces 
of  another  mind  than  his.  The  assistant  was  probably  Overton,  who  was  at  this  time  engaged  in  preparing 
the  general's  defense  in  the  Seminole  affair  Qackson  to  Eaton,  November  ig,  1819,  Jackson  Mss.)  Eaton 
and  Butler  were  in  Washington  and  could  not  have  helped  in  the  writiag,  and  it  could  not  have  been  by  Lewis. 


SEMINOLE   WAR  —  DIPLOMACY  AND  POLITICS      279 

was  chiefly  personal,  and  yielded  quickly  before  the  successes 
in  the  Creek  country  and  at  New  Orleans.  The  year  18 15 
was  not  gone  before  shrewd  men  in  the  West  began  to  say  that 
with  proper  management  he  could  be  made  President.*  There 
were  many  suggestions  to  this  effect  at  this  time,  all  with  ref- 
erence to  the  election  of  18 16.'  But  it  soon  became  evident 
that  the  prize  was  now  Monroe's.  Jackson  acquiesced  willingly 
both  because  he  disliked  Crawford,  Monroe's  chief  competitor, 
and  because  of  his  long  friendship  for  the  Virginian.  It  was, 
in  fact,  in  association  with  the  Macon-Randolph-Monroe  group 
of  republicans  that  he  began  to  take  interest  in  national  politics. 
Like  the  others  of  the  group  he  disliked  Jefferson  and  opposed 
the  election  of  Madison  in  i8c8.'  In  181 5,  he  was  in  a  position 
to  have  influence  with  the  coming  administration  and  the  long 
future  seemed  hopeful.  After  a  trip  to  Washington  in  the  au- 
tumn he  gave  himself  up  for  several  years  to  the  duties  of  his 
department,  receiving  reports,  making  infrequent  trips  of 
inspection  as  far  south  as  New  Orleans,  and  visiting  the  Indians 
to  make  treaties  or  estabhsh  more  friendly  relations.  He  was 
often  in  communication  with  Tennessee  leaders:  Eaton,  who 
was  then  completing  the  biography  which  the  death  of  Reid 
early  in  18 16  left  incomplete;  White,  Overton,  Felix  Grundy,  and 
Major  W.  B.  Lewis.  It  was  a  busy  group  of  friends,  bent  on 
his  elevation  in  due  time.  The  first-and  second  were  United 
States  senators,  the  third  was  a  state  judge  of  character  and 
ability,  a  loyal  adviser  through  many  years,  the  fourth  was  a 
rising  young  politician  of  great  shrewdness,  and  the  last  an 
industrious  lieutenant  who,  although  of  ordinary  mind,  had 
much  influence  with  the  chief  and  was  destined  to  render  various 
important  services  in  the  years  to  come.     They  all  had  their 

•Andrew  Hynes  to  Jackson,  October  24, 1815;  Anthony  Butler  to  Jackson,  November  7..1815,  Jackson  Mss. 
•One  came  from  Aaron  Burr,  but  it  seems  to  have  had  no  influence  on  later  events.       Burr  to  Alston, 
November  ao,  1815;  Parton,  Jackson,  II.,  351. 
•S.  Williams  to  Jackson,  April  7$,  1808,  Jackson  Mss. 


28o  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

eyes  on  the  election  of  1824;  when  Monroe  should  have  had  his 
full  allotment  of  service  and  honor. 

In  the  meantime,  four  other  men  hoped  for  the  succession. 
Crawford,  of  Georgia,  excellent  politician  and  administrator, 
v/as  Monroe's  chief  republican  contestant  in  18 16  and  withdrew 
from  the  canvass  before  the  election  because,  as  it  is  assumed, 
he  was  promised  the  Virginia  support  in  1S24.  He  became 
secretary  of  the  treasury  under  the  new  President,  and  through- 
out the  eight  years  of  his  incumbency  had  the  support  of  the 
New  York- Virginia  alliance,  then  very  powerful  in  the  election 
of  Presidents.  Another  candidate  was  Adams,  secretary  of 
state  from  181 7  until  1825,  selected  because  of  his  abihty  and 
because  it  was  believed  wise  to  have  a  New  Englander  in  the 
cabinet.  Still  another  was  Calhoun,  whom  Monroe  made  sec- 
retary of  war  with  some  hesitation,  and  after  the  place  was 
declined  by  Jackson.  He  was  young,  ambitious,  and  a  defender 
of  national  interests,  and  not  yet  enslaved  by  the  states'  rights 
ideas  of  South  Carolina.  These  three,  being  in  the  cabinet, 
gave  support  to  the  administration,  although  Crawford  pro- 
ceeded with  a  certain  air  of  independence,  as  became  a  man 
whose  ambitions  vv^ere  countenanced  by  the  old  regime. 

The  fourth  candidate  was  Clay.  He  had  wished  to  be  Mon- 
roe's secretary  of  state,  because  the  office  was  supposed  to 
carry  the  succession;  but  when  it  went  to  Adams  he  refused 
to  be  consoled  with  the  war  office,  which  he  might  have  had, 
and  in  the  house  of  representatives  he  became  the  leader  of 
those  who  could  be  brought  to  oppose  the  administration, 
seizing  eagerly  on  everything  which  could  serve  his  purpose 
and  fighting  so  hotly  that  some  of  his  opponents  thought  him 
more  selfish  than  patriotic.  In  the  spring  of  1818,  Monroe 
asked  congress  to  pay  the  expenses  of  a  commission  to  report 
on  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  new  South  American  republics. 
Clay  opposed  it  and  moved  that  a  minister  be  sent  to  the  "  United 


SEMINOLE   WAR  — DIPLOMACY   AND   POLITICS     281 

Provinces  of  Rio  de  la  Plata."  He  supported  his  motion  in 
his  loftiest  style,  but  it  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  115  to  45.  Stung 
by  his  defeat,  he  was  in  a  mood  to  undertake  much  to  retrieve 
his  position  when  news  of  the  invasion  of  Florida  came  north- 
ward. Monroe's  second  message,  November  16,  1818,  gave 
him  the  opportunity  to  take  up  the  matter.  It  approved  of 
Jackson's  action  in  Florida  on  the  grounds  of  necessity,  throwing 
the  responsibihty  upon  the  Spanish  officials  in  the  province. 
The  message  was  referred  to  the  house  committee  on  mihtary 
affairs.  As  early  as  this  Jackson's  friends  in  Washington  re- 
ported that  some  "back  stairs  influence"  was  being  exerted  to 
secure  a  report  unfavorable  to  him.  Georgia's  representatives 
were  hostile  and  New  York's  were  supposed  to  be  willing  to 
support  them.  The  former  were  probably  under  the  influence 
of  Crawford,  between  whom  and  Jackson  unfriendly  relations 
had  sprung  up  in  a  manner  much  like  the  origin  of  most  of 
Jackson's  quarrels.     It  was  as  follows: 

By  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  1814,  the  Creeks  ceded  a  wide 
strip  of  land  from  the  Termessee  to  the  old  West  Florida 
boundary,  giving  a  broad,  open  path  to  Mobile.  Early  in  18 16, 
a  Cherokee  delegation  appeared  in  Washington  with  a  claim  to 
that  part  of  this  strip  which  extended  south  of  the  Tennessee 
River  for  nearly  one  hundred  miles,  and  Crawford,  then  secretary 
of  war,  allowed  the  claim  under  a  construction  of  an  old  treaty. 
Jackson  heard  of  the  impending  negotiations  and  wrote  a  protest 
which  arrived  too  late  to  prevent  the  convention  with  the  Chero- 
kees.  When  he  learned  that  all  his  plans  for  an  open  path 
southward  were  thus  blocked,  he  sent  a  vigorous  objection  to 
the  secretary,  his  superior.  It  is  the  only  paper  in  connection 
with  the  Cherokee  treaty  of  this  year  which  seems  to  have 
been  written  by  himself.  Full  of  his  characteristic  logic  and 
bluster,  it  concludes  by  saying:  "I  have  now  done:  pohtical 
discussion  is  not  the  province  of  a  mihtary  officer.     As  a  man 


282  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

I  am  entitled  to  my  opinion  and  have  given  it  freely."*  In 
the  following  September  he  met  the  Cherokees  for  a  treaty 
and  was  forced  to  buy  back  the  land  which  the  recent  convention 
confirmed  to  them.  He  relieved  his  feelings  in  a  private  letter 
in  which  he  said:  ''My  whole  time  and  thoughts  are  occupied 
in  finding  out  the  wilds  of  the  deceitful,  and  to  obtain  if  possible 
the  object  in  view,  and  finally  disappoint  the  would-be 
President."*  Crawford's  letters  to  Jackson  were  direct  and 
without  that  tone  of  timorous  compliment  which  even  his 
superiors  were  accustomed  to  use  toward  him.'  Neither  man 
was  likely  to  yield  to  the  other,  the  quarrel  became  bitter, 
and  for  more  than  eight  years,  Jackson  lost  no  opportunity 
to  defeat  the  plans  of  "the  would-be  President."  Crawford, 
less  passionate  and  outspoken,  was  willing  in  1818  to  use  any 
proper  political  opportunity  to  discredit  his  enemy,  who  was 
likely  to  be  a  rival,  and  the  Seminole  matter  seemed  to  afford 
just  such  an  occasion.  Thus  Clay  openly  and  Crawford  secretly 
were  prepared,  for  political  reasons,  to  inquire  into  Jackson's 
invasion  of  Florida. 

Jackson  in  Nashville  knew  well  that  trouble  was  brewing 
in  Washington  and  through  his  friends  kept  informed  of  the 
situation.  Eaton,  fearing  that  the  general's  temper  would  not 
be  controlled,  urged  him  not  to  come  to  the  capital.  But 
Robert  Butler,  an  old  companion  in  arms  and  a  faithful  de- 
fender, thought  differently,  writing  on  December  15th,  that 
his  chief's  presence  was  needed,  and  the  master  of  the  "Her- 
mitage" hesitated  no  longer/  After  a  hard  trip  over  wretched 
roads,  he  arrived  in  the  city  on  January  27,  18 19. 


*  American  State  Papers,  Indian  A  fairs,  II.,  no.  Parton  says  that  Jackson  made  his  protest  to  Crawford 
while  in  Washington  in  the  winter  of  1815-1816,  but  the  correspondence  indicates  that  his  protest  from  New 
Orleans  on  April  11  was  his  first  interference  in  the  matter.     Cf.  Parton,  Jackson,  II.,  353. 

'Jackson  to  R.  Butler,  September  s,  1816,  Jackson  Mss. 

'See  American  Stage  Papers,  Ituiian  Afairs,  II.,  88-qi,  100-113. 

♦Eaton  to  Jackson,  December  14, 1818;  Poindexter  to  Jackson,  December  12,  i8i8;  Butler  to  Jackson,  Dec- 
ember 15,  1818,  Jackson  Mss. 


SEMINOLE    WAR  —  DIPLOMACY  AND    POLITICS     283 

The  situation  was  already  acute.  A  fortnight  earlier  the 
house  military  committee  reported  against  the  execution  of 
Ambrister  and  Arbuthnot.  The  report  went  to  the  committee  of 
the  whole,  where  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  Crawford's  leading  supporter 
in  the  house,  moved  to  amend  by  declaring  (i)  that  a  bill  be 
introduced  to  forbid  the  execution,  without  the  approval  of 
the  President,  of  any  captive  taken  in  time  of  peace  or  in  an 
Indian  war;  (2)  a  disapproval  of  the  seizure  of  St.  Marks  and 
Pensacola,  "contrary  to  orders,  and  in  violation  of  the  constitu- 
tion"; (3)  that  a  bill  ought  to  pass  to  prohibit  the  invasion  of 
foreign  territory  without  authority  of  congress,  except  in  fresh 
pursuit  of  a  defeated  enemy.  Cobb's  speech  introduced  a  three- 
weeks'  debate,  called  forth  some  able  speeches  in  the  house, 
and  produced  a  deep  impression  on  the  public.  At  the  end 
the  report  of  the  military  committee  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  63  to 
107  and  Cobb's  amendments  by  70  to  100.* 

The  most  notable  speech  for  the  minority  was  from  Clay, 
who  now  first  appeared  in  open  opposition  to  Jackson.  Dis- 
claiming personal  animosity  either  to  him  or  to  the  administra- 
tion, he  asserted  that  important  principles  were  involved  and 
that  he  should  examine  them  candidly.  First  of  all,  he  attacked 
the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  which  he  rightly  saw  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Seminole  war,  and  which  he  read  for  the  first 
time  in  order  to  get  material  for  this  debate.  "This  treaty," 
he  said,  "aroused  his  'deepest  mortification  and  regret.  A 
more  dictatorial  spirit  he  had  never  seen  displayed  in  any  in- 
strument, '  not  even  in  the  treaties  which  Rome  forced  from  the 
Barbarians.  It  spared  to  the  poor  Indians  neither  their  homes, 
their  property,  nor  their  prophets.  'When,'  he  would  ask, 
'even  did  conquering  and  desolating  Rome  fail  to  respect  the 
altars  and  the  gods  of  those  whom  she  subjugated!'  Let  me 
not  be  told  that  these  prophets  were  impostors,  who  deceived 

^Annals  of  Congress,  15th  congress,  2nd  session,  volume  I.,  138,  588,  H36. 


284  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

the  Indians.  They  were  their  prophets  —  the  Indians  believed 
and  venerated  them,  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  dictate  a  rehgious 
behef  to  them.  It  does  not  belong  to  the  holy  character  of  the 
religion  which  we  profess,  to  carry  its  precepts,  by  force  of  the 
bayonet,  into  the  bosoms  of  other  people.  Mild  and  gentle 
persuasion  was  the  great  instrument  employed  by  the  meek 
founder  of  our  religion.  We  leave  to  the  humane  and  benevolent 
ejfforts  of  the  reverend  professors  of  Christianity  to  convert 
from  barbarism  those  unhappy  nations  yet  immersed  in  its 
gloom.  But  sir,  spare  them  their  prophets!  Spare  their 
delusions!  Spare  their  prejudices  and  superstitions!  Spare 
them  even  their  religion,  such  as  it  is,  from  open  and  cruel 
violence."  Clay  went  on  to  say  that  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson 
was  void  because  it  was  signed  by  a  minority  of  the  Creek 
chiefs,  and  consequently  the  treaty  of  Ghent  would  operate 
to  restore  the  Creek  lands. 

The  suggestion  that  Jackson  aimed  to  convert  the  Creeks  was 
laughable,  the  plea  for  their  religion  was  whimsical,  and  the 
assertion  that  the  Creek  lands  should  be  re-ceded  was  ill  advised. 
They  must  have  been  made  through  a  reckless  desire  to  construct 
arguments.  They  were  seized  on  by  the  opposition  to  show 
how  Httle  Clay  knew  of  the  subject  about  which  he  was  speaking. 

But  from  this  point  the  Kentuckian  proceeded  with  more 
caution.  The  capture  of  the  Indian  chiefs  at  St.  Marks  was 
condemned  because  it  was  done  by  placing  a  British  flag  where 
only  the  American  colors  should  be;  their  execution,  because  it 
was  our  first  use  of  retaliation,  only  to  be  allowed  when  it  acts 
as  a  deterrent,  which  could  not  here  be  alleged.  The  argument 
was  specious:  false  colors  are  allowed  as  ruses  of  war,  and  the 
Indians  were  expert  in  devising  similar  decoys;  moreover,  the 
execution  of  Francis  was  calculated  to  have  a  deterrent  force 
with  the  savages  who  had  believed  him  all  powerful  through 
his  relation  with  England. 


SEMINOLE    WAR  —  DIPLOMACY    AND  POLITICS     285 

I  do  not  find  in  Clay's  speech  that  moderation  which  his 
best  biographer  attributes  to  it.'  He  was  ever  a  brilliant  advo- 
cate, rarely  a  man  of  balanced  judgment.  He  made  many  telling 
hits,  but  they  were  usually  obscured  by  exaggeration  or  weakened 
by  omissions.  For  example,  he  demolished  Jackson's  defini- 
tion of  international  law  as  applied  to  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister, 
but  he  would  not  see  the  point  made  by  Holmes,  of  Massachu- 
setts, that  white  men  who  instigate  savage  war  ought  not  to 
be  allowed  to  plead  the  laws  of  civilized  warfare.  Nor  was  it 
fair  to  compare  the  execution  of  Ambrister  to  that  of  the  Due 
d'Enghein;  for  though  there  were  similar  outward  circum- 
stances, and  these  Clay  stressed,  the  purposes  of  the  two  acts 
were  entirely  different.  But  the  speech  was  nevertheless  a 
good  one  and  not  so  turgid  as  most  of  the  others  in  the  debate. 

The  weakest  point  in  Clay's  speech  is  in  the  following: 

Recall  to  your  recollections  the  free  nations  which  have 
gone  before  us.  Where  are  they  now  and  how  have  they  lost 
their  liberties?  If  we  could  transport  ourselves  back  to  the 
ages  when  Greece  and  Rome  flourished  in  their  greatest  pros- 
perity, and,  miiigling  in  the  throng,  ask  a  Grecian  if  he  did  not  fear 
some  daring  military  chieftain,  covered  with  glory,  some  Philip 
or  Alexander,  would  one  day  overthrow  his  liberties?  No!  no! 
the  confident  and  indignant  Grecian  would  exclaim,  we  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  our  heroes;  our  liberties  will  be  eternal. 
If  a  Roman  citizen  had  been  asked  if  he  did  not  fear  the  con- 
queror of  Gaul  might  establish  a  throne  upon  the  ruins  of  the 
public  liberty,  he  would  have  instantly  repelled  the  unjust  in- 
sinuation. Yet  Greece  had  fallen,  Cassar  had  passed  the  Rubi- 
con, and  the  patriotic  arm  even  of  Brutus  could  not  preserve 
the  liberties  of  his  country!  The  celebrated  Madame  de  Stall, 
in  her  last  and  perhaps  best  work,  has  said,  that  in  the  very  year, 
almost  the  very  month,  when  the  President  of  the  Directory, 


'Schurz,  Life  of  Clay,  I.,  154. 


286  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

declared  that  monarchy  would  never  more  show  its  frightful 
head  in  France,  Bonaparte,  with  his  grenadiers,  entered  the 
palace  of  St.  Cloud,  and,  dispersing  with  the  bayonet  the  depu- 
ties of  the  people,  deliberating  on  the  affairs  of  the  state,  laid 
the  foundations  of  that  vast  fabric  of  despotism  which  over- 
shadowed all  Europe.  He  hoped  not  to  be  misunderstood; 
he  was  far  from  intimating  that  General  Jackson  cherished 
any  designs  inimical  to  the  liberties  of  the  country.  He  be- 
lieved his  intentions  pure  and  patriotic.  He  thanked  God 
that  he  would  not,  but  he  thanked  him  still  more  that  he  could 
not,  if  he  would,  overturn  the  liberties  of  the  Republic.  But 
precedents,  if  bad,  were  fraught  with  the  most  dangerous  con- 
sequences. Man  has  been  described  by  some  of  those  who 
have  treated  of  his  nature  as  a  bundle  of  habits.  The  defini- 
tion was  much  truer  when  applied  to  governments.  Prece- 
dents were  their  habits.  There  was  one  important  difference 
between  the  formation  of  habits  by  an  individual  and  by  gov- 
ernments. He  contracts  it  only  after  frequent  repetition. 
A  single  instance  fixes  the  habit  and  determines  the  direction 
of  governments.^ 

This  utterance  was  pointless  if  it  did  not  imply  that  Jackson 
as  a  military  hero  was  a  menace  to  the  country,  not  so  much 
for  what  he  had  done  as  for  what  he  might  do.  The  public 
so  understood  it,  and  it  proved  the  beginning  of  many  repeti- 
tions of  the  same  charge.  It  was  a  foolish  imputation,  because, 
as  Clay  admitted  in  making  it,  Jackson  neither  would  nor 
could  overthrow  the  popular  attachment  to  the  constitution. 
It  could  hardly  injure  Jackson,  because  the  populace,  to  whom 
it  would  ordinarily  appeal,  were  safely  won  by  his  military 
achievement.  Moreover,  it  was  the  kind  of  speech  which  would 
wound  most  severely  Jackson's  self-esteem.  The  cry  of  mili- 
tary hero  was  raised  many  times  after  this  in  derogation  of  his 
ambition,  but  it  did  not  lessen  his  popularity. 

Jackson  arrived  in  Washington  on  January  27th,  when  the 

^Annals  of  Congress,  15th  congress,  2nd  session,  volume  I.,  653. 


SEMINOLE    WAR  —  DIPLOMACY   AND    POLITICS     287 

tide  ran  in  his  favor,  so  far  as  the  house  debate  was  concerned. 
He  remained  at  his  hotel,  refusing  to  accept  invitations  to  dine 
until  the  vote  of  the  representatives  on  February  8th  acquitted 
him  of  wrong-doing.  But  he  had  not  the  same  feeling  in  regard 
to  the  senate,  where  another  investigation  was  pending.  Feb- 
ruary nth,  he  set  out  for  New  York,  allowing  himself  to  be 
feted  on  the  way  like  a  conqueror.  In  Philadelphia  the  festivi- 
ties lasted  four  days.  In  New  York  the  freedom  of  the  city 
was  presented  in  a  gold  box,  and  Tammany  gave  a  great  dinner 
at  which  the  leading  guest,  much  to  the  dismay  of  the  young 
Van  Buren  and  other  supporters  of  Crawford,  toasted  DeWitt 
Clinton,  the  leader  of  the  opposing  republican  faction.  In 
Baltimore,  on  the  return  trip,  there  was  more  rejoicing.  Ad- 
mirers gave  a  dinner  and  the  city  council  asked  him  to  sit  for 
a  picture  by  Peale  for  their  council  room.  Everywhere  there 
were  overwhelming  popular  demonstrations  which  gratified 
Jackson  and  strengthened  him  in  the  conviction  that  his  course 
was  right.  Keen-eyed  pohticians,  friends  of  the  administration 
and  opponents,  watched  the  ovations  closely,  and  many  wondered 
what  effect  they  would  have  on  the  deliberations  of  the  senate, 
whose  report  was  not  made  when  Jackson  left  the  capitol. 

But  the  senate,  little  impressed  by  outdoor  clamor,  proceeded 
with  accustomed  dignity.  The  Seminole  matter  was  in  the 
hands  of  a  select  committee  of  which  Abner  Lacock,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, a  friend  of  Crawford,  was  chairman.  He  was  a  quiet 
gentleman,  indefatigable  in  collecting  evidence  and  unterrified 
when  rumor  said  that  Jackson,  blustering  at  his  hotel,  was 
swearing  he  would  cut  off  the  ears  of  any  member  of  the  com- 
mittee who  opposed  him.  February  24th,  Lacock  submitted  a 
long  report  which  was  printed  the  next  day  in  The  Intelligencer. 
Its  tone  was  calm  and  argumentative  and  its  conclusions  alto- 
gether against  the  invasion  of  Florida.  Jackson  said  that  he 
first  saw  it  on  March  ist,  in  Baltimore,  and  that  leaving  that 


288  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

city  at  nine  at  night  he  rode  back  to  Washington  before  dawn 
of  the  second  in  order  to  meet  the  new  crisis.  It  is  rather 
singular  that  it  took  the  report  four  days  to  arrive  in  Baltimore 
and  only  eight  hours  for  Jackson  to  cover  the  same  distance 
southward.  He  came  in  a  great  rage  and  the  streets  were  full 
of  his  threats.  A  story  generally  believed  at  the  time  and  not 
positively  denied  by  Jackson  was  that  he  v/as  only  prevented 
by  Commodore  Decatur  from  personally  attacking  Eppes,  a 
member  of  the  senate  committee,  for  strictures  made  on  him. 

But  all  this  excitement  was  unwarranted.  The  committee, 
with  or  without  design,  had  waited  so  long  to  submit  the  report 
that  it  was  impossible  to  debate  it.  It  was  ordered  to  be  printed 
and  lie  on  the  table,  from  which  it  was  not  taken  before  the 
session  expired  by  constitutional  Hmitation  on  March  4th. 
Its  publication  in  The  Intelligencer  brought  forth  in  the  same 
paper  some  "Strictures  on  Mr.  Lacock's  Report,"'  and  this 
was  followed  by  a  reply  from  Lacock.'  Before  it  was  published 
Jackson  was  off  for  Tennessee,  where  he  was  received  with 
eclat  from  Knoxville  to  Nashville.  The  latter  place  provided 
a  dinner  and  an  address  of  welcome  in  which  the  country  was 
assured  that  he  was  still  the  hero  of  his  own  people. 

Jackson's  friends  attributed  the  investigation  to  the  desire 
of  the  Clay  and  Crawford  groups  to  discredit  a  rival.  Direct 
evidence  here  is  hardly  to  be  expected,  but  it  is  difficult  to  be- 
lieve that  all  the  zeal  against  Jackson  was  disinterested.  When 
the  matter  camie  up  the  administration  had  already  settled 
it  in  a  manner  which  has  the  sanction  of  posterity.  The  posts 
would  be  relinquished,  and  thus  Jackson's  design  for  permanent 
occupation  was  repudiated.  Why  disturb  aU  that  had  been 
done  in  order  to  censure  our  foremost  commander  whose  error, 
if  there  were  one,  was  excessive  zeal  in  defeating  the  enemy 

>See  Parton,  II.,  Jackson,  s6g-s7i. 
'Intelligencer,  March  8,  1819. 
'Ibid,  March  20,  1819. 


SEMINOLE  WAR  —  DIPLOMACY    AND    POLITICS     289 

and  adding  to  the  national  patrimony?  As  to  Arbuthnot  and 
Ambrister,  why  should  his  own  government  punish  Jackson 
on  their  account  when  not  even  the  British  government  resented 
their  fate?  Jackson's  candidacy  disturbed  two  0/  his  antag- 
onists in  the  presidential  race:  it  lessened  Clay's  hold  on  the 
West  and  Crawford's  on  the  South.  Calhoun,  Southern  though 
he  was,  was  not  so  much  affected.  He  had,  it  is  true,  some 
strength  in  North  Carolina,  where  Jackson  might  expect  to 
compete  with  him.  But  his  only  other  Southern  strength  lay 
in  South  Carolina,  which  was  safe  enough.  Calhoun's  greatest 
hope  was  in  those  middle  states  which  were  attached  to  the 
tariff  and  to  internal  improvements,  and  in  the  chance  that  he 
might  get    New    England    if    Adams    could    not    be  elected.' 

Before  the  investigation  ended  its  promoters  realized  that 
it  was  likely  to  make  more  friends  than  opponents  for  Jackson. 
The  country  tired  of  the  house  debates  long  before  they  were 
concluded:  it  would  not  tolerate  a  repetition  in  the  senate, 
and  it  was  wise  to  drop  the  matter.  Moreover,  publishing  the 
committee's  report  accomplished  all  that  could  be  expected 
from  a  fuller  investigation.  It  submitted  Jackson's  conduct 
to  the  consideration  of  thoughtful  people,  so  that  they  might 
determine  whether  or  not  he  was  the  kind  of  a  man  who  ought 
to  aspire  to  the  presidency. 

An  incident  which  occurred  in  connection  with  Lacock's 
report  gives  us,  also,  a  view  of  Jackson's  mind  and  may  help  us 
to  answer  the  question  which  his  opponents  in  18 19  desired 
to  submit  to  the  pubHc.  As  the  story  goes  Capt.  James 
Gadsden  wrote  Jackson  that  Crawford  was  said  on  good  authority 
to  have  written  a  letter  to  Clay  proposing  a  combination  to  de- 
feat the  reelection  of  Monroe.  The  general  must  have  re- 
peated the  gossip;  for  when  he  arrived  in  Washington  he  had 

•In  1831,  Jackson  with  weak  arguments  charged  Calhoun  with  promoting  the  investigation  of  i8ig.     La- 
cock  and  Calhoun  denied  it.     See  Benton,  View,  I.,  i8o,  and  Parton,  Jackson,  H.,  553. 


290  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

a  call  from  General  Swift,  Gadsden's  informant,  in  Vv^hich  the 
visitor  asked  who  was  authority  for  the  statement.  Jackson, 
not  knowing  that  Swift  had  spoken  to  Gadsden,  gave  the  name 
of  the  latter,  when  Swift  said:  "He  has  not  treated  me  gener- 
ously; but  it  is  true:  I  am  the  man:  I  saw  the  letter  and  read 
it,"  adding  that  he  and  Crawford  were  now  friends  and  that 
he  hoped  the  matter  would  be  dropped.  Later  Jackson  called 
on  Monroe,  who  said  that  Crawford  denied  writing  such  a  letter 
to  Clay.  The  President  added  that  Crawford  would  be  a  villain 
if  he,  a  member  of  his  cabinet,  should  attempt  such  an  intrigue. 
Then  Jackson  said  to  him:  "Say  to  Mr.  William  H.  Crawford 
from  me  that  he  is  a  villain,  and  that  he  dare  not  put  his  pen 
to  paper  and  sign  his  name  to  the  declaration  that  he  never 
wrote  such  a  letter  to  Mr.  Clay:  if  he  does,  say  to  him  from  me, 
if  I  do  not  prove  it  upon  him,  I  will  apologize  to  him  in  every 
gazette  in  the  United  States."  Monroe  replied  by  cautioning 
Jackson  against  relying  too  much  on  Swift,  who  in  a  pinch  might 
"trip."  But  the  general  replied  that  "tripping  was  out  of  the 
question  with  me:  no  man  should  do  it." 

Swift  did  indeed  prove  a  broken  reed.  Hearing  that  his 
name  was  used  he  called  on  Jackson  and  said  that  Crawford's 
letter  was  merely  a  letter  of  introduction.  The  Tennesseean 
was  thunderstruck  and  assuming  his  sternest  tone  said  that 
he  could  not  be  mistaken.  The  caller  remained  silent  a  moment 
and  asked  if  there  was  no  way  of  reconciling  Jackson  and  Craw- 
ford. "I  told  him,"  said  the  former,  "that  there  was  none, 
I  knew  him  [Crawford]  to  be  a  villain,  that  I  had  made  it  a  rule 
through  life  never  to  take  a  rascal  by  the  hand  knowing  him  to 
be  such,  that  I  never  gave  hand  where  my  heart  could  not  go 
also;  believing  as  I  did  of  Mr.  Crawford  I  never  would  take  him 
by  the  hand."  Here  the  immediate  quarrel  rested.  Before 
that  Jackson  had  been  told  that  Lacock's  report  would  not  be 
submitted  to  the  senate,  but  when  it  at  last  came  forth  he  con- 


SEMINOLE   WAR  —  DIPLOMACY   AND   POLITICS     291 

eluded  that  Crawford,  having  failed  to  secure  a  truce  with  his 
enemy,  had  decided  to  carry  the  matter  as  far  as  possible.' 

Gadsden  was  from  South  Carolina,  as  was  A.  P.  Hayne,  brother 
of  the  famous  antagonist  of  Webster.  Both  were  military  men 
with  good  records  of  service  under  Jackson,  and  both  seemed  at 
this  time  to  have  hopes  of  political  careers  under  his  protection. 
Both  were  drawn  into  association  with  Calhoun  and  went  into 
eclipse  with  that  unfortunate  leader.  A  letter  of  this  period 
from  the  second  shows  to  what  degree  of  flattery  one  of  his  in- 
timates was  willing  to  go  in  propitiating  the  favor  of  the  chief. 
"What  does  the  President  of  the  United  States  not  owe  you," 
exclaimed  Ha3aie,  "for  the  prompt  support  you  have  always 
given  his  administration?  In  18 14  and  181 5,  you  snatched 
the  republican  party  and  Mr.  Monroe  from  almost  inevitable 
destruction,  and  in  the  present  instance  you  have  most  effectu- 
ally saved  the  latter.  Your  personal  presence  has  silenced  all 
opposition  to  his  administration;  and  has  ensured  his  second 
election.'" 

General  Jackson  regarded  the  Lacock  report  as  a  manifesto 
of  his  enemies  and  insisted  that  it  should  be  answered.  Overton 
tried  to  dissuade  him,  but  he  replied  that  this  issue  ought  to 
be  met  whenever  raised.  Overton  yielded  and  during  the 
autumn  completed,  under  Jackson's  supervision,  the  defense 
of  the  Seminole  war.  "The  answer,"  said  the  general  in  send- 
ing it  to  Eaton  for  submission  to  his  friends,  "is  drew  with 
Christian  mildness,  brings  before  the  reader  the  facts,  and  a 
reference  to  the  documents  proves  them  ...  In  this  as  in 
every  other  thing  pertaining  to  this  unpleasant  business  I  leave 
[all]  to  your  and  my  friends  Judgment,  after  having  expressed 
my  opinion  on  the  subject;  let  all  your  dehberations  be  founded 
on  this:  that  I  fear  not  investigation,  but  court  it,  wherever  it 

'Jackson  to  Gadsden,  August  i,  1810;   Gadsden  to  Jackson,  February  6,  1820,  Jackson  Mss. 
*Hayne  to  Jackson,  Match  6,  1819,  Jackson  Mss. 


292  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

is  necessary  for  the  understanding  of  the  nation."'  This  letter 
probably  expressed  the  writer's  true  relation  to  the  friends  who 
brought  him  into  the  political  arena;  he  had  his  way  in  es- 
sentials but  yielded  much  to  their  guidance  in  matters  of  detail, 

Eaton,  receiving  the  memorial,  conferred  with  Rufus  King, 
of  New  York,  and  William  Pinckney,  of  Maryland,  both  sup- 
porters of  the  administration;  and  it  was  decided  to  soften  some 
of  the  parts  and  to  omit  those  which  imputed  malice  to  the 
Lacock  committee.  A  reference  to  Crawford  as  "the  gentleman 
who  was  the  chief  juggler  behind  the  scenes"  was  dropped  and 
Eaton  explained  it  to  Jackson  by  saying  that  nobody  would 
believe  anyway  that  Lacock  could  write  the  report.  February 
23, 1820,  King  presented  the  memorial  in  the  senate  and  Pinckney 
made  a  speech  in  its  support.'  Many  people  were  annoyed  at 
the  prospect  of  opening  again  the  Seminole  matter,  but  their 
fears  subsided  when  King  agreed  to  be  satisfied  if  the  memorial 
were  printed  and  made  a  matter  of  record.  His  desire  was 
granted  and  here  the  Seminole  affair  ended.  It  pleased  Jackson 
that  his  cause  in  the  senate  was  defended  by  such  prominent 
men  as  King  and  Pinckney;  and  the  rosy  accounts  Eaton  sent 
of  the  effects  put  him  in  good  humor.' 

One  of  the  charges  against  Jackson  in  connection  with  the 
Seminole  war  involved  his  personal  integrity.  It  was  alleged 
that  he  was  concerned  in  a  land  speculation  in  Pensacola  and 
that  he  seized  the  town  in  order  to  enhance  his  property  there. 
This  damaging  story  had  no  other  basis  than  this:  In  the  au- 
tumn of  181 7,  eight  of  his  Nashville  friends  formed  an  association 
to  buy  real  estate  in  Pensacola,  believing  that  Florida  would 
soon  be  acquired  and  that  lands  there  would  increase  in  value. 
Jackson  gave  their  agent  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Spanish 


•Jackson  to  Eaton,  November  ig,  1819,  Jackson  Mss. 
*Annals  of  Congress,  isth  congress,  2nd  session,  volume  2,  2308. 
'Eaton  to  Jackson,  March  11  and  15,  April  2  and  16,  1820,  Jackson  Mss. 


SEMINOLE   WAR  —  DIPLOMACY   AND   POLITICS     293 

governor,  in  order  to  vouch  for  the  respectability  of  the  pro- 
moters. The  agent  left  Nashville  in  November  and  bought 
some  land  in  and  near  Pensacola.  The  whole  transaction 
was  completed  before  the  news  that  Jackson  was  ordered  to 
conduct  the  Indian  campaign  reached  Nashville.  Eaton, 
who  was  one  of  the  speculators,  asserted  that  it  was  undertaken 
solely  because  it  was  believed  that  Florida  was  about  to  be 
acquired.  He  may  have  had  some  inkhng  of  the  progress  of 
the  negotiations,  then  just  re-opened  by  Pizarro;  but  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  his  assertion  that  Jackson  was  in  no  sense 
a  beneficiary  of  the  scheme.'  The  interest  of  the  latter  in  the 
acquisition  of  the  province  was  wholly  patriotic:  he  did  not 
at  that  time  suspect  he  was  destined  to  have  the  honor  of 
becoming  its  first  governor  under  American  rule. 

^Annals  of  Congress,  15th  congress,  2nd  session,  volume  2,  2300. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA 

Before  following  Jackson  into  the  field  of  national  politics 
it  is  necessary  to  consider  his  governorship  of  Florida,  the  last 
phase  of  his  public  career  before  he  became  a  presidential  candi- 
date. To  receive  the  province  from  Spain,  to  wave  adieu 
gracefully  to  the  former  masters,  and  to  inaugurate  American 
rule  with  the  least  friction  possible  was  a  dehcate  task.  It 
required  more  tact  and  consideration  for  others  than  Jackson 
possessed.  For  this  reason  this  episode  is  the  least  credible 
of  his  national  career. 

Soon  after  the  Seminole  war  Jackson  expressed  a  desire  to 
leave  the  army,  but  did  not  withdraw,  probably  because  of  the 
congressional  investigation.  After  that  was  past  there  was 
some  probabiHty  that  Spain's  unwillingness  to  ratify  the  Florida 
treaty  would  lead  to  war,  and  in  such  a  situation  he  would  not 
resign.  But  on  February  22,  182 1,  the  treaty  was  at  last  pro- 
claimed by  Monroe,  and  Jackson  prepared  to  fulfil  his  purpose. 
Before  he  could  do  so  the  Florida  governorship  was  offered. 

To  many  people  it  seemed  but  proper  that  he  who  had  twice 
raised  the  American  flag  in  Pensacola  should  first  unfurl  it 
there  in  token  of  permanent  American  possession.  Monroe 
thought  as  much  and  opened  the  matter  when  Jackson  was  in 
Washington  in  18 19,  but  the  offer  was  then  declined.  It  was 
renewed  Januaiy  24,  182 1,  and  at  first  the  general  was  inclined 
to  accept;  "but,"  as  he  said,  "on  more  mature  reflection  added 
to  the  repugnance  of  Mrs.  Jackson  to  go  to  that  country  I  have 
declined  and  so  I  have  wrote  to  the  President  and  secretary  of 

294 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  295 

war."  But  later  than  this  he  yielded,  his  chief  purpose  being, 
as  he  admitted,  to  place  some  of  his  friends  in  the  subordi- 
nate offices  which  he  thought  would  be  filled  through  his  sug- 
gestion/ His  commission  was  dated  March  loth,  and  modified 
on  March  20th,  but  he  did  not  assume  the  government  until 
June  ist,  when  he  relinquished  his  military  ofhce.' 

His  powers  as  governor  were  ample.  Until  the  end  of  the 
next  session  of  congress  he  was  to  exercise  all  the  authority 
which  belonged  under  the  old  regime  to  the  captain-general 
of  Cuba  and  to  his  subordinate  governors  of  East  and  West 
Florida.  He  might  suspend  officials  not  appointed  by  the 
President,  but  he  might  not  lay  new  taxes  or  grant  public  lands, 
and  his  salary  was  $5,000,  the  same  as  when  a  major-general. 
He  was  also  made  commissioner  to  receive  the  territory  with 
authority  to  appoint  a  deputy  and  with  additional  allowances 
for  expenses.' 

Before  Jackson  arrived  in  Pensacola  to  receive  the  province, 
Colonel  Forbes  was  sent  to  Havana  with  orders  from  the 
Spanish  government  to  the  captain-general  to  deliver  Florida 
to  the  American  commissioner,  together  with  the  public  archives 
and  all  papers  relating  to  the  titles  of  private  property,  which 
by  treaty  were  to  be  surrendered.  When  he  received  from 
Havana  the  necessary  orders  to  the  officials  at  Pensacola 
and  St.  Augustine,  he  was  to  repair  to  the  former  place.  At  the 
same  time  the  Spanish  minister  in  Washington  asked  that 
American  troops  should  not  enter  Pensacola  until  the  Spanish 
troops  were  withdrawn,  and  the  request  was  allowed.  Thus 
Jackson's  prompt  entrance  into  his  government  depended  on 
the  early  completion  of  the  negotiations  in  Havana.* 

'Monroe  to  Jackson,  January  24,  1821;  Jackson  to  Bronaugh,  February  11,  June  9,  1821;  Jackson  to 
Monroe,  August  4,  1821,  Jackson  Mss. 

^See  Jackson  Mss.  March  10  and  20,  1821. 

'Adams  to  Jackson,  March  12,  1821,  Jackson  Mss. 

'Adams  to  Jackson,  March  12,  1821;  Adams  to  de  Anduciga,  November  2,  1821;  Adams  to  Forbes,  March 
10,  182 1 ;  Jackson  Mss. 


296  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

But  Forbes  had  all  kinds  of  difficulties  in  Cuba,  due,  it  seems, 
to  the  lack  of  good  will  in  the  officials  there.  He  wasted  six 
weeks  in  fruitless  endeavors  to  get  the  archives  and  at  last 
departed  without  them,  arriving  in  Florida  about  June  i,  182 1.' 
Meantime,  Jackson,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  a  group  of 
friends,  was  proceeding  to  his  post.  In  New  Orleans  they 
were  received  with  marked  respect,  and  April  30th,  they  halted 
at  Montpelier,  in  southern  Alabama,  to  await  the  movements 
of  Forbes.  Here  they  remained  five  vexatious  weeks,  Jack- 
son's mind  filled  with  suspicion  of  Spanish  treachery.  At 
length  he  proceeded  into  Florida  and  halted  fifteen  miles  from 
Pensacola  at  the  home  of  a  Spanish  gentleman.  Mrs.  Jackson 
and  most  of  the  companions  found  quarters  in  the  town,  but  he 
declared  that  he  would  not  see  it  until  he  could  go  under  his 
own  banner  to  plant  his  flag  for  the  third  time  on  its  walls. 
There  were  various  other  delays,  and  it  was  not  until  July  15th 
that,  all  difficulties  removed,  he  prepared  to  enter  Pensacola. 
He  was  now  in  the  best  of  spirits  and  wrote  to  a  friend  in  town 
as  follows: 

General  Jackson  with  his  compliments  to  Dr.  Brunough 
informs  him  that  the  General  will  be  in  Pensacola  to  break- 
fast on  Tuesday  at  half  after  six  A.  m.  and  a  number  of  the 
officers  of  the  army  as  well  as  officers  of  the  navy  from  the 
Hornet.  Will  the  Doctor  have  the  goodness  to  aid  Lt.  Donald- 
son in  making  the  necessary  preparations  for  Brakfass,  and  also 
Dinner.  The  Scripture  says  return  good  for  evil,  in  this  feeling 
I  intend  asking  the  govr  and  his  secretaires  to  dine  with  me. 
Fie  is  as  I  suppose,  very  sore,  and  if  he  was  devoid  of  urbanity 
I  mean  to  show  him  I  at  least  possess  magnanimity  by  which 
I  will  heap  coals  of  fire  upon  his  head.  Had  I  agreed  with  the 
ceremony  this  day  proposed  by  him  we  would  have  had  no  time 
for  dinner;  but  as  useless  ceremony  is  a  great  tax  upon  me  I  have 

'In  1832,  Jackson,  when  President,  demanded  from  Spain,  the  archives  taken  from  Florida  to  Havana 
and  got  what  he  asked,  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers,  of  the  Presidents.  II.,  593. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  297 

waved  all  that  could  be  dispensed  with  and  I  suppose  we  will 
get  through  about  eleven  o'clock  and  have  the  star  spangled 
banner  waving  over  our  dinner.  I  have  been  compelled  to-day 
to  respond  to  three  long  letters.     My  answers  were  short. 

The  designated  Tuesday  was  July  17th,  and  promptly  at 
7  A.  M.,  the  American  troops  approached  the  place,  their  band 
playing  joyously.  Natives  and  eager  American  speculators 
and  office-seekers  lined  the  streets,  all  anxious  to  see  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  era  in  the  sleepy  town.  The  procession  moved 
down  Main  Street,  passed  the  great  house  from  the  balcony 
of  which  Mrs.  Jackson  looked  fondly  at  the  straight  horseman 
who  led  it,  and  halted  at  the  government  house,  where  Governor 
Callava  with  garrison  in  ranks  awaited  the  final  ceremonies. 
These  were  soon  over.  The  keys  were  handed  to  the  new 
owners,  the  Spanish  flag  flapped  down  the  flag-staff,  the  Ameri- 
can emblem  took  its  place,  and  the  garrison  at  word  of  command 
turned  from  the  scene  to  embark  on  vessels  which  were  waiting 
in  the  harbor.  The  next  morning  the  hot  gulf  breeze  wafted 
them  away,  the  last  vestige  of  Spanish  authority  in  West  Florida, 
the  American  ship  Hornet  gallantly  acting  as  escort.  They 
carried  367  soldiers  and  ninety-seven  civilians.  Thirty-six 
officers  and  137  others  were  allowed  to  stay  on  condition  that 
they  should  go  at  their  own  expense  within  six  months.' 

To  Mrs.  Jackson  these  scenes  appealed  strongly.  The  de- 
parture of  the  Spaniards  excited  the  sympathy  of  her  gentle 
soul,  but  the  amusements  of  a  Spanish  Sunday  shocked  her 
stern  Presbyterianism  till  she  must  interfere.  "I  sent,"  she 
wrote,  "Major  Stanton  to  say  to  them  that  the  approaching 
Sunday  would  be  differently  kept.  .  .  .  Yesterday  I  had 
the  happiness  of  witnessing  the  truth  of  what  I  said.  Great 
order  was  observed;   the  doors  kept  shut;   the  gambling  houses 

'Jackson  to  Bronaugh,  July  15,  1821,  Jackson  Mss. 
'Callava's  agreement  August,  1821,  Jackson  Mss. 


298  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

demolished;  fiddling  and  dancing  not  heard  any  more  on  the 
Lord's  Day;  cursing  not  to  be  heard.'"  Another  incident 
illustrates  the  sharp  break  in  ideas  for  the  province.  As  the 
American  flag  rose  to  the  top  of  its  staff  a  Methodist  missionary, 
passing  through  the  crowd,  began  to  distribute  tracts  to  the 
natives.  He  soon  encountered  an  indignant  Catholic  priest 
who  began  to  remonstrate  against  his  action.  For  reply  the 
missionary  merely  pointed  to  the  new  flag:  his  disappointed 
interlocutor   silently    turned    away.' 

Governor  Jackson's  first  dinner  was  hardly  over  before  he 
was  deep  in  a  quarrel  with  his  predecessor.  Governor  Callava. 
By  the  treaty  Spain  must  surrender  ,the  forts  intact  and  the 
United  States  furnish  transportation  for  the  garrisons.  Noth- 
ing specific  was  said  about  cannon  and  provisions  for  the  trans- 
ported garrisons.  Secretary  Adams,  foreseeing  trouble  on  this 
point,  instructed  Jackson  that  the  guns  ought  to  go  with  the 
forts  and  that  he  ought  to  furnish  supplies,  but  that  if  Callava 
proposed  to  take  away  the  cannon  the  provisions  ought  to  be 
withheld  as  an  offset.  The  contingency  which  Adams  foresaw 
occurred.  After  much  negotiation  it  was  agreed  to  leave  the 
guns  and  furnish  provisions,  and  that  the  matter  be  referred 
to  the  two  governments  for  adjustment,  receipts  being  given 
for  both  cannon  and  pro\'isions.  When  the  cession  v/as  about 
to  be  made  and  Callava  was  sought  to  receipt  for  the  supplies, 
he  reported  that  he  was  sick  and  could  not  be  seen.  His  secre- 
tary gave  his  word  that  the  receipt  would  be  sent  and  the  Ameri- 
cans delivered  the  provisions.  But  when  the  document  arrived 
and  was  translated  it  was  seen  to  be  no  receipt  but  a  certificate 
that  supplies  had  been  delivered  in  accordance  with  the  treaty. 
This  duplicity  put  Jackson  in  a  rage :  he  wrote  some  plain  letters 
to  the  Spaniard,  from  whom  he  received  no  satisfaction,  and 

'Parton,  Jackson,  II.,  604.     Parton  lias  undoubtedly  improved  Mrs.  Jackson's  language. 
Hbid,  II.,  608. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  299 

he  closed  the  correspondence  abruptly  on  August  3d,  with 
the  assurance  that  he  had  no  further  confidence  in  the  state- 
ments of  his  correspondent  and  would  have  no  further  dealings 
with  him.  To  Adams  he  expressed  "a  hope  that  my  govern- 
ment will  stamp  his  perfidy  with  such  marks  of  displeasure,  as 
will  convince  Spanish  officers  hereafter  to  comply  with  their 
engagements  of  honor." '  Yet  in  spite  of  his  declaration  he  was 
to  have  much  more  to  do  with  Callava. 

His  governorship  was  hardly  begun  before  office-seekers 
began  to  beset  him.  Some  were  former  political  friends,  others 
were  his  old  soldiers,  for  whom  he  was  ever  sympathetic,  and 
to  all  he  gave  patient  hearing.  One  of  the  applicants,  David 
Cowan,  more  importunate  than  the  others,  enlisted  the  sympa- 
thies of  Mrs.  Jackson  by  picturing  the  distressed  condition  of 
his  family.  She,  who  understood  not  the  wiles  of  the  office 
hunter,  replied  that  if  there  was  an  office  in  her  husband's  gift 
that  would  relieve  Cowan's  condition  she  would  use  her  in- 
fluence to  have  it  go  to  the  petitioner.  The  condition  was  not 
hard  to  meet,  since  he  was  willing  to  be  inspector  of  provisions, 
or  he  could,  to  quote  his  own  words,  "with  equal  capacity  and 
dignity  fill  the  office  of  notary  public,  city  magistrate,  or  sheriff, 
by  the  advice  of  an  attorney  who  has  promised  his  assistance." 
He  became  port-warden  and  within  a  month  was  in  a  squabble 
with  the  merchants  of  the  town  because  of  his  large  fees.'  In 
this  incident  appears  Jackson's  conception  of  his  duty  as  dis- 
penser of  patronage;  later  and  in  a  higher  office  he  showed  it 
was  not  improved. 

Launching  the  new  government  was  made  more  difficult 
by  the  lack  of  the  important  subordinate  officers.  Of  those 
whom  Monroe  had  appointed,  not  one  was  in  Florida  on  July  17th. 
Jackson  found  a  remedy  "in   assigning   their  duties  to  his  staff 

'Adams  to  Jackson,  March  12,  1821;  Jackson  to  Callava,  August  3,  1821;  Ibid  to  Monroe,  August  4,  1821, 
Jackson  Mss. 
•Cowan  to  Jackson,  July  13,  1821,  Jackson  Mss. 


300  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

chiefly  to  Dr.  Bronaugh,  R.  K.  Call,  and  H.  M.  Brackenridge, 
the  last  of  whom  spoke  Spanish.  A  deputy  commissioner  was 
sent  off  to  St.  Augustine  to  receive  the  surrender  of  East  Florida. 
July  27th,  came  Eligius  Fromentin,  one  of  the  two  newly  ap- 
pointed federal  judges.  He  was  already  known  in  Pensacola 
where  he  was  United  States  agent  pending  the  completion  of 
the  treaty;  and  on  his  departure  he  left  numerous  debts  for 
wliich  judgments  were  obtained  in  his  absence.  When  Jackson 
arrived  he  was  shocked  to  see  notices  of  these  judgments  posted 
on  the  street  corners,  according  to  custom  in  such  cases.  It 
was  not  the  first  unfavorable  impression  he  had  of  the  judge. 
"I  have  no  unfriendly  feeling  towards  Mr.  Fromentin,"  he  wrote 
at  this  time  to  Monroe.  "He  is  a  polite,  gentlemanly  man,  but 
from  the  character  given  him  both  here  and  in  Orleans,  both 
as  to  his  capacity  as  a  judge  and  his  moral  character,  I  cannot 
confide  in  him."  '  When  Jackson  could  not  "confide"  in  a  man 
he  was  in  a  fair  way  to  quarrel  with  him/ 

In  the  meantime,  Callava  remained  in  Pensacola,  undoubtedly 
losing  his  character  as  governor.  The  treaty  provided  that 
cession  should  be  complete  within  six  months  after  ratification, 
or  by  August  2 2d,  and  if  any  authority  inhered  in  him  by 
reason  of  his  former  governorship  it  might  be  considered  to  have 
ceased  at  the  end  of  this  period.  But  he  was  also  commissioner 
to  make  the  transfer.  International  comity  would  allow  him 
reasonable  time  to  complete  his  business  as  commissioner, 
and  liis  continuation  in  the  place  was  with  Jackson's  consent. 
He  was  a  Spanish  officer  for  a  particular  purpose  and  had  per- 
sonally the  status  of  an  accredited  agent.  As  such  he  was 
exempt  from  arrest  and  trial  by  the  ordinary  courts  of  the 

•Jackson  to  Monroe,  August  4,  1S21,  Jackson  Mss. 

'Fromentin,  a  French  Jesuit,  was  expelled  from  France  during  the  Revolution,  came  to  Maryland,  where 
he  married  into  an  ini3uential  family,  read  law  and  settled  in  New  Orleans  to  practise  that  profession.  His 
character  and  talants  were  poor;  bat  by  suavity  and  boldness  he  secured  a  short  term  in  the  United  States 
senate,  and  through  the  efforts  of  his  wife's  relatives,  President  Monroe,  not  knowing  his  qualifications,  ap- 
pointed him  federal  judge  in  Florida.     He  was  thoroughly  incompetent  for  the  duties  of  the  office. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  301 

country,  and  his  property,  domicile,  and  the  public  papers  in 
his  charge  were  inviolate  as  long  as  he  kept  within  the  limits 
of  his  official  duty. 

Callava  and  Fromentin  were  soon  closely  associated,  and 
with  them  was  John  Innerarity,  Pensacola  representative  of 
the  rich  Mobile  traders,  Forbes  &  Company.  This  great  house, 
long  enjoying  under  Spanish  protection  special  advantages  in 
the  Indian  trade,  was  unpopular  with  the  Americans,  who 
thought  it  stimulated  Indian  outrages,  and  Jackson  shared  their 
prejudice.  He  was  chagrined,  also,  to  learn  that  some  of  his 
own  officers  fell,  soon  after  their  arrival,  under  the  influence 
of  Callava's  circle.  Thus,  an  explosion  was  imminent,  and  the 
lawsuit  of  the  Vidal  heirs  furnished  the  necessary  occasion. 

Nicholas  Maria  Vidal,  a  Spanish  military  auditor,  died  in 
1806,  leaving  large  landed  property  near  Baton  Rouge  and  other 
effects  in  Pensacola.  By  will  he  left  his  estate,  after  his  debts 
were  paid,  to  his  mulatto  children  in  Pensacola.  The  property 
went  into  the  hands  of  Forbes  &  Company  for  settlement. 
It  was  not  quite  clear  what  they  did  about  it;  but  after  some 
years  the  heirs  had  received  no  returns  and  applied  to  the  courts 
to  force  a  settlement.  Several  orders  to  Innerarity  to  deliver 
the  papers  to  the  court  were  avoided  in  one  way  or  another 
till  1820,  when  he  at  last  was  compelled  to  deliver  the  papers, 
ten  years  after  he  assumed  the  task  of  executing  the  Vidal 
will.  The  auditor,  Saures,  who  received  them,  declared  that 
proceedings  under  the  will  had  been  wholly  irregular  and  con- 
fused and  he  recommended  that  suit  be  brought  to  annul  all 
that  had  been  done  and  to  force  the  executors  to  account  to 
the  heirs.  The  recommendations  were  not  acted  upon,  but 
on  July  10,  1820,  Callava  signed  a  decree  ordering  Innerarity 
within  ten  days  to  make  report  of  his  accounts  as  executor, 
and  to  deposit  in  the  royal  treasury  certain  sums  within  five 
days.     This  decree,  also,  was  evaded.     By  this  statement  of 


302  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

the  facts,  taken  from  the  report  of  Alcalde  Brackenridge/  there 
was  appearance  of  fraud  and  an  investigation  was  justified. 

About  the  end  of  July,  182 1,  the  new  alcalde  was  visited  by 
Mercedes  Vidal,  quadroon  and  natural  daughter  of  the  deceased 
Vidal.  She  demanded  justice  against  Innerarity,  exhibited  a 
record  of  proceedings  in  the  case  until  1820,  admitted  that  she 
secured  it  clandestinely  in  the  fear  that  it  would  be  taken  away 
by  Callava  with  other  records,  and  declared  that  she  knew  not 
the  whereabouts  of  the  will  and  other  testamentary  papers. 
A  few  days  later  she  reported  that  they  were  in  the  hands  of 
Sousa,  a  clerk  of  Callava,  and  that  she  was  allowed  to  make 
copies  by  taking  them  out  piecemeal.  Brackenridge  scented 
illegality  and  got  her  to  bring  him  an  instalment  as  evidence. 
He  then  spoke  to  Jackson,  who  said  that  if  proof  were  sufficient 
he  would  make  a  formal  demand  for  the  papers.  Accordingly, 
on  August  2ist,  formal  demand  was  made  to  Sousa,  who  refused 
to  deliver  the  documents,  pleading  that  he  was  but  an  agent; 
and  he  seized  the  first  opportunity  to  send  his  papers  to 
the  house  of  his  superior.  He  was  promptly  arrested  and 
taken,  much  terrified,  before  Governor  Jackson,  who,  him- 
self much  excited,  ordered  that  the  prisoner  be  carried  under 
guard  to  the  house  of  Callava,  there  to  surrender  the  required 
papers,  in  default  of  which  he  was  to  be  thrown  into  the  town 
prison. 

By  this  time  it  was  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-second,  and 
Callava  was  at  dinner  with  Innerarity,  Fromentin,  Captain  Kear- 
ney, of  the  navy,  and  others,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  at  the  house  of 
Colonel  Brooke,  of  the  4th  infantry;  and  Brooke's  residence  was 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Callava's.  It  was  half  past 
four  o'clock  when  Colonel  Butler,  Brackenridge,  and  Dr.  Bro- 
naugh  stopped  at  the  house  of  the  Spaniard  and  learned  that 
he  was  still  at  the  house  of  Colonel  Brooke  at  dinner.     Not 

^American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II.,  8ii. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  303 

desiring  to  disturb  him  they  returned  half  an  hour  later  to  be 
told  that  he  was  still  absent.  They  then  went  to  the  house  of 
the  host  and  sent  word  that  they  would  like  to  see  Callava  at 
his  own  home.  It  is  inconceivable  that  he  did  not  know  well 
enough  all  that  was  passing  in  this  interval.  In  fact,  by  his 
story,  Sousa  appeared  at  the  dinner  table  to  tell  him  what  was 
wanted  and  an  aide  was  sent  to  Jackson  to  say  that  if  a  list  of 
the  desired  papers  was  furnished  they  would  be  given  up  if 
they  were  such  as  ought  not  to  be  taken  away.  The  messenger 
soon  returned  saying  that  he  found  Jackson  in  a  towering  rage 
walking  about  and  shouting,  "Colonel  Callava  to  the  dungeon!" 
This  announcement,  says  Callava  at  the  table  where  company 
was  assembled,  "could  not  but  raise  a  blush  in  my  face,  and  dis- 
order in  my  stomach,  in  the  very  act  of  eating,  and  in  the  conva- 
lescent state  in  which  I  was  I  felt  myself  attacked  by  a  deadly 
pain  (which  I  almost  habitually  suffered  and  which  had  frequently 
attacked  me  in  the  preceding  days)."  But  he  bravely  concealed 
his  inconvenience  and  left  the  table  to  reflect  on  what  course 
he  ought  to  pursue. 

In  the  street  he  encountered  the  American  officers  v/ho  told 
him  with  as  much  kindness  as  the  situation  warranted  that 
they  must  have  the  papers  or  arrest  him.  They  assured  him 
that  Governor  Jackson  could  consider  him  in  no  other  light 
than  as  a  private  person.  There  was  further  conversation  to 
this  effect,  and  feeling  the  pain  returning  he  told  them  he  was 
ill  and  that  they  must  tell  "Don  Andrew  Jackson"  that  he  was 
ill  and  could  not  leave  his  house,  whereupon  they  went  away. 
Now  "Don  Andrew  Jackson"  well  remembered  that  in  the  pre- 
ceding month  Callava  evaded  his  promise  in  regard  to  the  receipt 
for  provisions  on  the  ground  of  sickness,  and  he  was  in  no  mood 
to  allow  such  a  pretext  to  serve  again  for  purposes  of  deceit. 
Moreover,  the  American  officials  were  reasonably  gentle  with 
him.     "An  hour,  at  least,"  says  Brackenridge,  who  acted  as 


304  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

interpreter,  "was  taken  up  in  the  conversation;  everything 
was  fully  explained:  the  written  order  from  the  Governor, 
containing  a  specification  of  the  papers,  the  declaration  of  Sousa 
that  they  had  been  delivered  to  his  steward;  and  repeated  de- 
mands were  made  for  them.  He  insisted  on  his  alleged  rights 
as  commissioner;  he  said,  if  the  papers  were  demanded  of  him 
in  that  capacity,  or  as  late  governor,  and  by  writing,  he  would 
reply"  —  all  of  which  shows  that  Colonel  Callava  had  his 
own  share  of  stubbornness. 

As  they  were  withdrawing  to  report  his  refusal  he  said  that 
if  a  list  of  the  documents  was  delivered  to  him  he  would  send 
them,  neglecting  to  say  that  he  spoke  as  a  commissioner  of  his 
government.  Half  an  hour  later  Brackenridge  returned  with 
such  a  list.  He  found  Callava  packing  up  papers,  preparing 
a  protest,  and  acting  generally  as  if  he  thought  everything  he 
owned  was  to  be  taken  from  him.  He  was  assured  that  only 
certain  documents  were  wanted,  a  list  of  which  was  delivered, 
and  he  was  informed  that  the  papers  desired  would  be  called 
for  in  two  hours.  He  said  he  would  reply  to  the  demand  if  it 
was  directed  to  him  as  commissioner,  and  this  part  of  the  in- 
terview closed.  Callava,  feeling  rather  depressed,  now  went  to 
bed. 

In  the  meantime,  a  report  of  the  whole  transaction  was  made 
to  Jackson.  He  was  very  angry  and  wrote  the  follomng  order 
to  Colonel  Brooke,  Callava's  late  host: 

Sir:  —  You  will  furnish  an  officer,  sergeant,  corporal,  and 
twenty  men,  and  direct  the  officer  to  call  on  me  by  half  past 
eight  o'clock  for  orders.  They  will  have  their  arms  and  accoutre- 
ments complete,  with  twelve  rounds  of  ammunition. 

No  news  coming  from  the  Spanish  commissioner,  the  guard 
marched  to  his  house  at  nine  o'clock.  They  found  the  place 
dark. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  305 

"Leaving  the  guard  at  the  gate  and  in  the  street, "  says  Brack- 
enridge,  who  was  present,  "we  entered  the  garden  in  front  of  the 
house,  after  removing  the  bar  by  which  the  gate  was  fastened. 
The  house  was  shut  up;  the  door  locked.  On  our  entering  the 
porch,  we  heard  a  bustle  inside  resembling  the  rattling  of  arms. 
Admittance  was  three  times  demanded  by  me  in  Spanish,  but 
no  answer  was  returned.  I  then  went  round,  and  discovered 
several  persons  in  the  porch  on  the  side  fronting  the  bay.  The 
guard  was  ordered  round,  and  formed  in  front  of  high  steps 
which  lead  up  to  the  porch;  they  had  a  short  time  before  been 
ordered  into  the  garden,  and  had  been  drawn  up  before  the  front 
door.  On  ascending  the  steps,  inquiries  were  made  for  Colonel 
Callava;  they  all  remained  silent:  on  the  question  being  re- 
peated, it  was  observed  by  some  one  that  he  did  not  know. 
The  only  light  was  a  candle  burning  in  one  of  the  rooms.  Colonel 
Butler  ordered  a  candle  to  be  brought  from  some  of  the  neigh- 
bouring houses.  After  waiting  fifteen  minutes,  it  was  resolved 
to  enter  the  hall,  and  some  one  brought  out  the  candle.  Tv\^o 
or  three  of  the  soldiers  were  then  ordered  up;  we  then  entered 
the  room  where  the  candle  had  been  burning,  and  Colonel 
Callava  rose  from  the  bed,  with  his  coat  off,  and  expressed 
great  surprise  at  our  entering  his  house  at  that  time  of  night. 
The  papers  were  then  demanded  of  him,  as  is  stated  in  the  report 
of  Colonel  Butler  and  Dr.  Bronaugh.  He  persisted  in  the  same 
reason  which  he  had  before  repeatedly  alleged.  Every  possible 
means  was  used  to  induce  him  to  surrender  the  papers;  the 
boxes  containing  them  were  in  view,  and  he  was  told  that  if  he 
would  not  break  them  open  we  would  take  them.  He  was  at 
length  told,  that,  having  refused  to  deliver  the  papers,  he  must 
go  before  the  Governor,  who  was  then  sitting  in  his  office  and 
waiting  our  return.  He  at  first  said  that  he  might  be  assassi- 
nated or  murdered,  but  that  he  would  not  leave  his  house  alive. 
Colonel  Butler  told  him  repeatedly  that  he  might  consider  him- 
self as  taken  forcibly  from  his  house,  and  hoped  he  would  not 
render  it  necessary  to  use  actual  force.  It  was  impossible  to 
have  used  greater  delicacy  to  any  one  under  similar  circum- 
stances. When  the  guard  was  at  length  ordered  up,  and  the 
officer  ordered  to  take  him  into  custody,  he  consented  to  go; 


3o6  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

more  than  half  an  hour  having  passed  from  the  time  of  our  en- 
tering the  house.'" 

Unfortunately,  Callava's  account  does  not  agree  in  details 
with  that  of  Brackenridge.  "They  surrounded  my  bed,"  he 
said,  "with  soldiers  having  drawn  bayonets  in  their  hands,  they 
removed  the  mosquito  net,  they  made  me  sit  up,  and  demanded 
the  papers  or  they  would  use  arms  against  me."  He  told  them 
that  as  they  had  used  force  the  boxes  and  papers  were  in  their 
hands  and  he  would  appeal  to  the  United  States  government. 
He  had  a  written  protest  by  him  which  one  of  his  friends  tried 
to  translate  to  the  officers,  but  they  forbade  him.  After  a  while 
an  officer  told  him  he  was  under  arrest.  ''I  answered,"  he  says, 
"that  I  was  so,  but  he  would  have  the  goodness  to  observe 
that  I  was  so  sick  as  that  I  ought  not  to  be  taken  out  of  my  house 
at  that  hour.  He  made  no  answer  to  the  interpreter,  and  re- 
mained silent,  but  one  of  the  three  boldly  ordered  me  to  dress; 
I  dressed  in  my  uniform,  was  going  to  put  on  my  sword,  but 
on  reflection  thought  it  better  to  deliver  it  to  the  officers.  I 
did  so  and  one  of  the  three  took  it  from  his  hands,  and  threw 
it  upon  the  chimney,  and  in  this  manner  I  was  conducted  through 
the  streets  among  the  troops." 

It  was  now  ten  o'clock,  but  the  governor  was  waiting  in  his 
office  in  the  capacity  of  judge.  The  prisoner  was  given  a  seat 
and  Brackenridge  was  directed  to  act  as  interpreter.  Being 
informed  why  he  was  brought  to  court,  Callava  rose  to  protest, 
saying  that  he  was  commissioner  of  Spain  and  not  answerable 
in  a  private  capacity.  Then  Jackson  declared  he  would  receive 
no  protest  against  his  jurisdiction.  After  some  argument  it 
was  agreed  that  Callava  might  answer  in  writing.  "I  sat 
down,"  he  says,  "to  write  a  regular  protest,  that  I  might  go 
on  to  answer  afterwards,  but  I  had  hardly  begun,  when  Don 
Andrew  Jackson  took  the  paper  from  before  me,  and  with  much 

^American  State  Papers.  Miscellaneous,  II.,  810, 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  307 

violence,  and  furious  gestures,  spoke  for  some  time  looking  at 
the  bystanders,  and  when  he  had  concluded  the  interpreter 
told  me  that  he  ordered  me  to  give  no  other  answer  to  all  that 
he  had  asked  me  but  yes  or  no." 

The  scene  was  now  most  exciting.  In  the  centre  sat  the  prin- 
cipals both  very  angry;  around  them  in  the  lamplight  were 
the  crowd  of  onlookers.  Callava  persisting  in  his  contention 
was  quivering  with  emotion.  Jackson  was  raging  violently,  now 
threatening  his  opponent  and  now  his  own  supporters.  "Why 
do  you  not  tell  him,  sir,  that  I  will  not  permit  him  to  protest? '* 
he  exclaimed  to  Brackenridge.  The  latter  in  the  confusion  called 
on  Cruzat,  Callava's  secretary,  to  assist  in  interpreting,  but 
Cruzat  refused.  The  turmoil  continued  for  some  time,  when 
the  Spanish  commissioner  finally  remained  silent,  declaring 
that  he  would  answer  in  writing  and  as  a  commissioner  of  Spain 
or  not  at  all.  Then  was  called  Fullarat,  the  steward  into  whose 
hands  Sousa  delivered  the  boxes  of  papers.  He  testified  that 
the  boxes  were  in  the  house  of  his  master :  this  was  the  necessary 
proof  that  the  papers  were  in  Callava's  possession,  and  they 
were  formally  demanded.  Callava  and  Jackson  then  began 
a  heated  dialogue.  "The  governor,"  says  Brackenridge,  "in 
the  same  manner,  enforced  his  demand  of  the  papers  by  a  variety 
of  reasons;  he  observed,  they  were  such  papers  as  were  con- 
templated by  the  second  article  of  the  treaty,  which  was  read 
to  him;  that  it  was  his  duty  to  see,  for  the  safety  of  the  in- 
habitants, and  the  protection  of  their  rights,  that  all  papers 
relating  to  the  property  of  individuals  should  be  left.  The  con- 
versation, as  is  natural,  was  warm  on  both  sides  and  some  ex- 
pressions were  softened  by  me  in  the  interpretation,  and  others, 
tending  only  to  irritate  and  provoke,  omitted  altogether.  These 
were  principally  the  appeals  of  Colonel  Callava  to  the  bystanders, 
which  were  frequent,  loud,  and  inflammatory;  and,  on  the  part 
of  the  governor,  strong  expressions  against  what  he  considered 


3o8  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

a  combination  between  him  and  others  to  withdraw  the  evi- 
dences of  the  right  of  property  required  by  individuals;  which 
combination  I  understood,  and  so  expressed  it,  to  be  between 
Colonel  Callava,  Sousa,  and  the  steward  Fullarat,  but  which 
seemed  to  excite  some  indignation,  as  he  said,  'Sousa  is  my 
domestic,  my  servant;  he  is  nothing  in  this  business.'"  This 
scene  lasted  till  midnight,  Jackson  being  much  fatigued  from 
irritation  and  from  having  sat  as  judge  from  forenoon  with 
slight  intermission.  At  length  he  "rose  from  his  seat,  and  called 
on  me  distinctly  to  state  that  Colonel  Callava  must  deliver  the 
papers,  or  abide  by  the  consequences;  he,  at  the  same  time, 
called  upon  the  friends  of  Colonel  Callava  who  understood 
English  to  explain  to  him  the  situation.  It  was  fully  explained 
to  him.  This  was  several  times  repeated,  and,  at  length,  a 
blank  commitment,  which  had  been  prepared  in  case  of  neces- 
sity, was  signed,  and  Colonel  Callava  conamitted  to  prison. 
The  next  day  I  presented  petition  to  open  the  boxes  and  seize 
the  papers,  which  was  accordingly  done.'"  To  prison  went, 
also,  Fullarat  and  Sousa. 

Callava  wrote  an  account  of  this  painful  interview  which 
he  handed  to  the  Spanish  minister  in  Washington  with  his 
protest  against  the  whole  incident.'  His  account  of  the  close  of 
the  trial  is  interesting.  "When  the  commitment  was  read," 
says  he,  "I  got  upon  my  feet.  I  begged  the  interpreter  to  ask 
him  if  he  did  not  shudder  and  was  not  struck  with  horror 
at  insulting  me,  and  I  pronounced  a  solemn  protest  against  his 
proceedings.  The  interpreter  informed  him,  and  he  replied  that 
for  what  he  had  done  he  had  no  account  to  give  but  to  his  gov- 
ernment, and  he  told  me  I  might  protest  before  God  himself." 
Callava  was  taken  to  prison  at  midnight,  his  house  open  and  in 
the  possession  of  United  States  officers,  his  money-chests   and 

>Brackearidge's  account  is  in  American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II.,  828. 
'Callava's  protest,  October  3,  1821,  American  State  Papers,  Foreign,  IV.,  768. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  309 

other  property  at  their  mercy.  He  received  in  the  prison  the 
treatment  of  a  common  criminal,  "and  lastly,"  as  he  says, 
"by  a  respectable  citizen  of  the  United  States  and  by  my  officers, 
at  two  in  the  morning  a  couch  was  spread  for  me  and  my  other 
assistants,  to  throw  ourselves  down  upon:  for  by  Don  Andrew 
Jackson  I  was  permitted  to  throw  myself,  sick  as  I  was,  upon 
the  bricks  of  the  prison." 

When  "Don  Andrew  Jackson"  sought  his  own  couch  that 
night  he  probably  consoled  himself  with  the  thought  that  he 
at^,last  had  a  Spanish  governor  where  he  wanted  him.  Behind 
his  violent  action  lay  a  long  series  of  official  delays  and  subter- 
fuges which  made  the  faith  of  a  Spanish  official  an  offense  in 
the  eyes  of  most  Americans  who  had  aught  to  do  with  it.  It  was 
not  improved  by  the  conduct  of  Callava  and  his  friends  in  the 
prison  on  this  same  night.  To  him  came  a  number  of  his  officers 
and  friends  with  food,  wine,  and  cigars :  a  feast  was  improvised, 
jests  and  laughter  filled  the  apartment,  the  recent  trial  was 
mockingly  reenacted,  and  the  rest  of  the  night  was  turned  into 
day.  All  traces  of  the  commissioner's  oft-pleaded  illness  had 
vanished. 

Early  next  morning  American  officers  seized  the  papers  in 
Callava's  possession,  took  out  of  the  boxes  those  which  had 
been  demanded,  and  sealed  up  the  cases  without  disturbing 
other  property.  The  Vidal  suit  was  then  brought  to  trial  before 
the  supreme  court  of  the  province,  Jackson  presiding  with  a 
local  justice.  Forbes  &  Company's  plea  of  no  jurisdiction  was 
overruled,  and  three  auditors  were  ordered  to  examine  the 
accounts  of  the  firm  with  the  Vidal  estate.  October  6th,  they 
reported,  approving  the  settlement  of  the  estate  by  the  Span- 
ish authorities  in  18 10,  but  stating  that  the  expenses  of  the  affair, 
$1,315.62  for  property  valued  at  $10,101.50,  were  excessive. 
They  attacked  the  account  at  another  point,  disallowing  a 
payment  of  $200  to  Edward  Livingston  for  suing  out  an  attach- 


3IO  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

ment  in  New  Orleans,  not  because  it  was  exorbitant  —  as  the}' 
might  well  have  held  —  but  because  it  was  not  properly  charge- 
able to  the  estate.  On  this  and  other  grounds  they  held  that 
Forbes  &  Company  had  $496  belonging  to  the  estate :  and  they 
suggested  that  the  court  determine  whether  or  not  the  firm 
be  held  for  two  other  claims  which  it  was  said  they  had  paid 
but  for  which  no  receipts  were  produced.  On  consideration 
the  court  decided  to  demand  the  pa^Tnent  of  the  latter  claims. 
Thus  it  was  held  that  Forbes  &  Company,  after  allowing 
some  deductions,  owed  to  the  estate  $683.06  as  an  undi- 
vided asset,  which  with  interest  since  1810  was  ordered  to  be 
paid  within  sixty  days.  In  December,  when  Jackson  was  gone, 
the  defendant  petitioned  for  a  new  trial,  giving  such  clear  and 
satisfactory  reason  for  it  that  the  decision  just  cited  seems 
overthrown  at  every  point.'  Unfortunately  the  means  of 
determining  the  exact  merits  of  the  controversy  are  not  now  at 
hand. 

In  the  meantime,  let  us  return  to  Callava.  On  the  morning 
after  his  arrest  his  friends  invoked  the  aid  of  Federal  Judge 
Fromentin,  who  as  a  former  resident  of  New  Orleans  should 
have  remembered  the  experiences  of  Dominick  Hall.  On  verbal 
request  and  without  asking  to  see  the  warrant  of  commitment, 
he  issued  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  and  in  the  absence  of  the  mar- 
shal served  it  by  a  private  citizen  on  the  officer  of  the  day 
who  had  Callava  in  custody.  Then  the  judge,  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  prisoner,  busied  himself  in  writing  a  bail  bond 
for  the  liberation  of  a  man,  the  legaHty  of  whose  detention  he 
was  yet  to  determine.  While  thus  engaged  he  received  a  cita- 
tion to  appear  before  Governor  Jackson  "to  show  cause  why  he 
has  attempted  to  interfere  with  my  authority  as  governor 
of  the  Floridas,  exercising  the  powers  of  the  captain-general 
and  intendant  of  the  island  of  Cuba  over  the  said  provinces, 

^American  Stale  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II.,  848-863,  873. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  311 

respectively,  in  my  judicial  capacity  as  supreme  judge  over 
the  same,  and  as  chancellor  thereof." 

Jackson's  commission  gave  him  authority: 

To  exercise,  within  the  said  ceded  territories,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances as  have  been,  or  may  hereafter  be,  prescribed  to 
him  by  my  instructions,  and  by  law,  all  the  powers  and  authori- 
ties heretofore  exercised  by  the  Governor  and  Captain  General 
and  Intendant  of  Cuba,  and  by  the  Governors  of  East  and  West 
Florida,  within  the  said  provinces,  respectively. 

Under  this  grant  of  power  Jackson  beheved  himself  possessed 
of  the  function  of  high  judge,  which  was  once  exercised  by  the 
governor  of  West  Florida;  but  the  belief  was  not  absolutely 
justifiable.  It  is  true  the  governor  was  once  a  judge,  but  in 
1820  the  Spanish  cortes  adopted  a  new  constitution  by  which 
the  colonial  governors  were  restricted  to  military,  political, 
and  financial  functions,  distinct  judges  being  created  for  the 
trial  of  cases.  This  constitution  was  promulgated  in  Havana 
in  January,  182 1,  and  it  seems  not  to  have  been  promulgated 
in  Florida,  probably  on  account  of  the  coming  transfer  of  au- 
thority. Jackson  held,  and  with  much  plausibility,  that  the  mantle 
of  the  old  governor  fell  to  him  unshorn  of  the  judicial  power. 
Moreover,  congress  and  the  President  evidently  intended  the 
governor  of  Florida  to  have  temporarily  the  same  wide  powers 
as  the  first  American  governor  of  Louisiana.  On  the  other 
hand,  Callava  declared  to  Brackenridge  before  the  events  of 
August  2  2d  strained  their  relations  that  in  the  last  months 
of  Spanish  possession  there  was  in  the  province  no  official  who 
could  legally  decide  a  lawsuit.'  Jackson,  ignoring  this  opinion, 
created  a  city  government  for  Pensacola,  county  courts  for  the 
outlying  settlements,  and  reserved  the  highest  judicial  function 
for  himself. 


^American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II.,  902-907. 


312  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

His  judicial  authority  was  assailed  on  still  another  side.  Fro- 
mentin  was  commissioned  United  States  district  judge  and  ar- 
rived in  Pensacola  thinking  he  would  exercise  the  usual  powers 
of  such  a  judge.  To  his  surprise  Jackson  showed  him  instruc- 
tions from  Washington  by  which  only  two  United  States  statutes, 
those  dealing  with  the  revenue  and  the  importation  of  slaves, 
were  to  be  enforced  in  the  province  for  the  present:  for  other 
affairs  the  old  law  was  to  be  administered.  Fromentin's  duties, 
as  Jackson  argued  —  and  the  judge  agreed  with  him  —  were 
limited  to  these  two  subjects.  But  contact  with  Callava  and 
Innerarity  gave  the  judge  other  views  as  well  as  the  courage 
to  enforce  them;  and  August  23d,  he  was  bold  enough  to  issue 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  for  the  release  of  his  friend.' 

Jackson's  position  as  judge  was  undoubtedly  irregular,  but 
the  situation  was  unusual.  A  governor  in  this  transition  period 
ought  not  to  be  hampered  by  the  formalities  of  English  law, 
nor  could  an  American  official  be  expected  to  be  proficient  in 
Spanish  practices.  Much  must  be  left  to  his  judgment,  and 
tact  was  essential.  Now  Jackson's  judgment  was  good  for  main 
points;  but  it  vanished  before  passion,  and  he  lacked  tact. 
When  his  authority  was  crossed  he  was  apt  to  forget  forms 
of  legality  and  even  of  propriety  in  order  to  carry  his  point. 
He  was  not  a  proper  man  to  have  the  wade  discretionary  powers 
with  which  Monroe's  commissions  invested  him. 

When  Fromentin,  on  August  23d,  received  the  citation  to 
appear  and  show  cause  why  he  interfered  with  the  governor's 
authority  he  replied  that  he  had  rheumatism  and  could  not 
comply.  The  next  day  he  was  better  and  called  on  his  excel- 
lency. The  interview  was  exciting.  At  its  close  the  judge 
signed  a  memorandum  to  the  effect  that  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  was  granted  in  an  unusual  manner.  He  admitted,  but 
not  in  writing,  that  the  writ  was  issued  hastily  and  on  insuffi- 


^American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II.,  8oi,  822. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  313 

cient  information  and  promised  not  to  interfere  again  with  the 
governor's  authority.*  "The  lecture  I  gave  the  judge  when  he 
came  before  me,"  wrote  Jackson  to  the  secretary  of  state, 
'Svill,  I  trust,  for  the  future,  cause  him  to  obey  the  spirit  of  his 
commission,  aid  in  the  execution  of  the  laws  and  administration 
of  the  government,  instead  of  attempting  to  oppose  me,  under 
Spanish  influence."' 

A  week  later  Fromentin  learned  that  this  signed  memorandum 
was  described  by  Jackson  as  an  apology  and  opened  a  corre- 
spondence whose  personalities  did  no  credit  to  either  of  the  two 
highest  officials  in  the  province.  Each  side  appealed  to  Adams, 
secretary  of  state,  filling  his  ears  with  charges  and  counter- 
charges. After  investigation  he  supported  Jackson.  Fromen- 
tin's  letters  show  how  completely  he  was  unfit  for  the  position 
of  judge,  and  he  was  soon  removed  from  the  position.  The 
controversy  was  brought  before  congress  by  inconsiderate 
opponents  of  Jackson;  but  wiser  heads,  unwilling  to  give  him 
another  opportunity  to  appear  as  a  martyr,  let  the  matter  drop. ' 

August  27th,  Callava,  though  still  weak  from  illness  and 
mortification,  set  out  for  Washington  to  lay  his  case  before 
the  Spanish  minister.  The  protest  which  came  duly  from  that 
official  brought  from  Secretary  Adams  one  of  his  usual  clear  and 
aggressive  despatches.  The  occurrence  at  Pensacola,  he  said, 
was  wholly  due  to  the  delay  of  the  captain-general  in  Havana, 
to  whom  royal  orders  were  delivered  by  the  American  agent. 
Colonel  Forbes,  on  April  23d,  directing  the  delivery  of  Florida 
with  certain  archives.  There  was  no  reason  why  this  should 
not  be  done  v/ithin  a  week:  there  were  twenty  boxes  of  docu- 
ments in  Havana  relating  to  Florida,  most  of  which  ought 
to  have  gone  to  Forbes,  but  not  one  was  delivered;  after  vainly 


^American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II.,  821. 

^Ihid,  801. 

•Bronaugh  to  Jackson,  February  8,  23, 1822;  Adams  to  Fromentin,  August  26, 1821,  Jackson  Mss. 


314  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

demanding  them  six  weeks  he  was  forced  to  depart  without 
them  but  with  the  captain-general's  promise  to  send  them  to 
Pensacola,  a  promise  still  unperformed.  These  documents 
were  all  from  Florida  originally,  they  related  chiefly  to  land 
transfers,  and  were  safeguards  against  fraudulent  sales.  Adams 
also  reminded  his  correspondent  that  Callava  refused  to  show 
Jackson  his  credentials  as  commissioner  of  transfer,  saying 
that  he  would  surrender  the  province  as  governor  and  not  by 
special  authority.  Thus  by  his  own  act  he  was  debarred  from 
claiming  immunity  as  a  commissioner  and  he  became  after  the 
transfer  a  private  citizen.  And  his  willingness  to  be  liberated 
on  bail  shows  that  he  acquiesced  in  this  status;  for  the  plan  was 
to  release  him  on  bail,  he  agreeing  to  appear  for  trial  when  re- 
quired and  not  to  carry  away  the  boxes  of  papers.  The  secretary 
discreetly  said  httle  about  the  trial  of  Callava,  contenting 
himself  with  the  approval  of  its  results.  He  summed  up  the 
case  in  declaring: 

On  a  review  of  the  whole  transaction,  I  am  instructed  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States  to  say,  that  he  considers 
the  documents  in  question  as  among  those  which,  by  the  stipu- 
lations of  the  treaty,  ought  to  have  been  delivered  up,  with 
the  province,  to  the  authorities  of  the  United  States;  that  they 
were  on  the  22nd  of  August,  when  in  the  possession  of  Domingo 
Sousa,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  and  subject 
to  the  control  of  the  governor,  acting  in  his  judicial  capacity 
and  liable  to  be  compulsively  produced  by  his  order;  that  the 
removal  of  them  from  the  possession  of  Sousa,  after  the  governor's 
orders  to  deliver  them  had  been  served  upon  him,  could  not 
withdraw  them  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Governor  Jackson,  and 
was  a  high  and  aggravated  outrage  upon  his  lawful  authority; 
that  the  imprisonment  of  Col.  Callava  was  a  necessary,  though 
by  the  President  deeply  regretted,  consequence  of  his  obstinate 
perseverance  in  refusing  to  deliver  the  papers,  and  of  his 
unfounded  claim  of  diplomatic  immunities  and  irregular  exercise 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  315 

even  of  the  authorities  of  governor  of  Florida,  after  the  authority 
of  Spain  in  the  province  had  been  publicly  and  solemnly  sur- 
rendered to  the  United  States.'" 

To  this  communication  the  Spanish  minister  returned  a  pep- 
pery reply,  announcing  that  he  would  await  instructions  from  his 
government.  But  there  was  no  prospect  of  gain  to  either  side 
from  a  prolonged  discussion  of  such  a  trivial  incident,  and  the 
affair  of  "Don  Andrew  Jackson"  and  "Colonel  Don  Callava" 
ceased  to  disturb  the  diplomats.  The  country  soon  forgot  it. 
Nobody  wanted  war,  and  the  popular  disapproval  of  Spain's 
general  conduct  overshadowed  v/hatever  technical  wrong  she  may 
have  suffered:  Jackson  remained  the  people's  hero. 

Thus  closed  the  Jackson-Callava  incident.  Although  the 
papers  were  demanded  in  a  tactless  manner,  they  were  such  as 
ought  not  to  have  been  taken  away.  They  were  not  properly 
military  papers  but  were  documents  relative  to  a  lawsuit  still 
pending.  In  contending  that  Callava  was  merely  a  private 
individual  Jackson  was  not  so  clearly  right.  The  Spaniard  had 
his  status  from  his  commission,  and  although  a  notification  that 
no  further  business  would  be  held  with  him  might  render  him 
useless  as  a  commissioner,  it  did  not  destroy  that  status.  As 
long  as  he  was  allowed  to  remain  in  the  province  he  was  entitled 
to  the  ordinary  immunity  in  person  and  property  of  a  diplo- 
matic agent. 

Jackson's  administrative  achievements  were  less  striking 
than  his  quarrels.  The  Florida  treaty  was  proclaimed  February 
22, 182 1 ;  and  in  the  remaining  ten  days  of  the  existing  congress 
there  was  only  time  to  create  a  temporary  government  for  the 
new  province.  The  President  was  authorized  to  continue  the 
older  system,  with  the  exception  of  the  revenue  laws  and  the 


•Documents  relating  to  the  diplomatic  side  of  the  incident  are  in  American  State  Papers,  Foreign,  IV.,  765- 
8o3.     Adams  to  de  Anduaga,  April  15,  1822,  is  on  pages  802-8*7. 


3i6  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

laws  relating  to  the  importation  of  slaves.  The  act  was  prac- 
tically like  that  of  1803,  in  which  a  transition  government  was 
established  in  newly  acquired  Louisiana.  The  powers  of  the 
first  American  governor  in  New  Orleans  were,  therefore,  very 
large;  and  Jackson  expected  to  have  equal  authority  in  Pensa- 
cola.  His  commission,  as  construed  by  himself  and  allowed 
by  the  President,  granted  him  most  of  the  functions  of  govern- 
ment. He  was  local  lawmaker,  judge,  and  executive;  and 
immediately  after  the  transfer  of  the  province  he  embodied 
what  he  thought  the  most  needed  reforms  in  a  series  of  ordi- 
nances. The  first  provided  a  municipal  government  for  Pen- 
sacola  with  Brackenridge  for  alcalde,  or  mayor;  another  made 
regulations  for  preserving  the  public  health;  another  created 
counties;  and  still  another  established  county  courts.  Alto- 
gether they  were  wisely  planned.'  The  kind  of  government 
which  Florida  needed,  he  said,  was  one  which  was  "simple  and 
energetic."  He  advised  that  the  region  should  not  be  joined 
to  Georgia  and  Alabama,  but  that  it  be  made  one  territory  with 
the  hope  of  ultimate  statehood.  Whatever  we  may  say  of  the 
system  of  government  he  established  in  West  Florida,  it  was 
more  definite  and  practicable  than  that  which  it  displaced. 

Jackson  has  been  pronounced  "guilty  of  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors'"  for  not  enforcing  the  Spanish  constitution, 
particularly  where  it  required  a  popular  election  of  the  alcalde. 
His  instructions  were  to  continue  the  government  and  laws  he 
found  in  existence,  and  although  Callava  promulgated  the 
constitution  on  May  26,  1820,  and  swore  to  obey  it,  it  was  not 
put  into  force.  The  system  which  he  found  on  his  arrival  was 
arbitrary  and  chaotic,  and  he  decided  to  reform  it.  Must  his 
reforms  follow  the  unenforced  Spanish  constitution?  If  Callava, 
in  view  of  the  coming  transfer,  would  not  enforce  the  instrument, 

^American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II.,  Q04-908. 

'Thomas,  Military  Government  in  Newly  Acquired  Territory  of  the  United  States,  (Columbia  University 
Studies,  XX.)  75- 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  317 

should  Jackson  observe  it,  now  that  Spanish  authority  was 
destroyed?  If  Callava's  government  was  temporary,  so  was 
Jackson's,  since  by  law  it  w^as  to  give  place  to  a  permanent 
government  by  the  end  of  the  next  session  of  congress.  It  was 
not  in  keeping  with  Spanish  laws  to  put  a  liberal  government 
on  its  feet  in  such  a  time  of  confusion.  As  to  the  municipality 
of  Pensacola,  which  was  needed  to  preserve  order,  existing 
conditions  did  not  favor  its  election  by  the  unorganized  citi- 
zenry; and  Jackson  thought  himself  justified  in  appointing 
both  mayor  and  council.  The  practical  wisdom  of  his  action 
is  confirmed  by  the  approval  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  Nor  was  it  clearly  illegal.  Callava,  without  criticism 
from  his  government,  suspended  the  enforcement  of  the  constitu- 
tion after  its  promulgation:  Jackson,  who  stood  precisely  in 
his  shoes,  had,  under  the  circumstances,  equal  if  not  greater 
reason  to  hold  it  in  abeyance.  At  any  rate,  the  situation  was 
doubtful  enough  to  warrant  the  exercise  of  discretion  without 
committing  "a  high  crime  and  misdemeanor.'"  Moreover, 
the  incident  illustrates  his  character  as  an  administrator  of  laws. 
He  was  practical  and  bold  and  did  not  hesitate  to  override  the 
letter  in  order  to  enforce  the  spirit  of  a  law^  The  practice, 
of  course,  may  endanger  the  existence  of  the  laws,  but  the  people 
who  made  them  trusted  Jackson's  honesty  and  conmion  sense, 
and  they  never  rebuked  his  assumption  of  responsibility. 

Long  before  Callava  and  Fromentin  ceased  to  annoy  him 
Jackson  determined  to  resign  his  governorship.  He  was  not 
suited  to  administrative  routine  and  did  not  like  it:  he  was 
disgusted  because  the  Washington  politicians  distributed  the 
Florida  patronage  to  the  exclusion  of  his  own  friends,  his  health 
was  wretched,  Mrs.  Jackson  did  not  like  the  country  and  longed 
for  the  familiar  faces  at  her  home,  and  his  friends,  who  had  other 

•Professor  Thomas  is  hardly  warranted  in  including  Jackson's  governorship  in  his  generally  excellent  treat- 
ment of  Military  Government  in  Newly  Acquired  Territory  of  the  United  Stales.  It  was  not  military 
government:  Jackson  was  not  then  an  officer  in  the  army,  and  his  government  was  purely  civil. 


3i8  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

plans  for  his  future,  realized  that  nothing  was  to  be  gained  by 
keeping  their  candidate  in  Pensacola.  He  left  Florida  early 
in  October  on  the  plea  of  his  wife's  health,  promising  to  return 
on  short  notice  if  his  presence  became  necessary,  and  November 
4th,  he  arrived  at  the  "Hermitage."  Soon  afterward  he  placed 
his  resignation  in  the  hands  of  the  President,  who  accepted  it, 
to  take  effect  December  ist.' 

The  retirement  of  private  life  was  welcome.  For  the  past 
four  years  his  health  was  extremely  bad:  chronic  diarrhoea  and 
indigestion  several  times  brought  to  the  verge  of  life  a  body 
which  was  never  strong.  Residence  in  the  Southern  wilderness 
both  in  18 1 8  and  again  in  182 1  aggravated  the  trouble,  and  many 
friends  now  felt  that  his  chances  of  recovery  were  small.  But 
rest  and  an  iron  will  brought  recuperation;  the  care  of  his  farm 
and  blooded  horses  gave  added  stimulus;  and  in  a  few  months 
the  loss  of  strength  was  repaired.  A  new  residence  gave  addi- 
tional interest  to  life.  It  was  the  commodious  brick  structure 
which,  though  later  burned  and  rebuilt,  still  survives  as  one 
of  the  historic  homes  of  America.  The  hero  of  two  wars,  the 
idol  of  a  large  portion  of  the  people,  and  prospective  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  he  made  it  the  centre  of  hospitality  for  a 
wide  circle  of  notable  men.  A  fine  carriage  drawn  by  four 
handsome  gray  horses,  with  servants  in  livery,  added  to  his 
state.  To  the  ordinary  observer  he  appeared  as  a  man  of  re- 
served and  dignified  manners:  to  his  intimates  he  was  cordial 
and  rarely  either  yielded  himself  to  anger  or  relapsed  into  the 
swaggering  braggadocio  of  earlier  days.  He  satisfied  the  Ten- 
nesseeans  of  his  time,  who  pronounced  him  as  great  as  the 
greatest  who  came  to  their  prosperous  young  capital. 

One  of  his  last  ofiicial  acts  in  Florida  was  to  expel  the  few 
Spanish  ofiicers  whom  for  one  reason  or  another  he  had  allowed 
to  remain  in  Pensacola  after  July   17th.     They  were  active 

^American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II.,  911;  Bronaugh  to  Jackson,  December  26,  1S21,  Jackson  Mss. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  319 

sympathizers  with  Callava  and  published  a  protest  against 
his  arrest.  Their  action  was  ill  advised  and  could  have  no 
other  effect  than  to  arouse  the  antagonism  of  the  native  popu- 
lation. Jackson  construed  it  as  interference  with  his  govern- 
ment, and  he  sent  them  away  on  four  days'  notice.  They  were 
forced  to  submit,  but  sent  a  parting  shot  against  their  antagonist 
in  the  shape  of  a  protest  which  no  Florida  paper  would  print, 
but  which  found  a  better  reception  at  the  hands  of  The  Intelli- 
gencer, of  Washington,  already  leaning  strongly  toward  Craw- 
ford. 

Ever  suspecting  his  opponents  he  soon  came  to  think  the 
Florida  governorship  was  offered  to  him  through  their  influence, 
in  order  that  when  off  his  guard  he  might  discredit  himself  and 
thus  be  sacrificed  to  the  interest  of  Crawford.  In  some  curious 
notes  which  survive  in  his  own  hand  he  asserted  as  much  and 
said  this  was  why  his  recommendations  for  appointments  in 
Florida  were  ignored,  and  why  Fromentin  was  preferred  to  John 
Haywood,  of  Tennessee,  for  judge.  Noting  the  opinion  of  the 
Richmond  Enquirer,  a  Crawford  journal,  that  Callava  ought 
to  have  been  confined  in  his  own  house  but  his  subordinate 
might  have  been  sent  to  the  common  jail,  he  answered  by  citing 
the  Mosaic  law,  "upon  which,"  he  said,  "our  republican  con- 
stitution is  founded;  Deutronomy,  chapter  i,  vers.  17  —  'Ye 
shaU  not  respect  persons  in  judget. ;  but  ye  shall  hear  the  small 
as  well  as  the  great;  ye  shall  not  be  afraid  of  the  face  of  man; 
for  the  judget.  is  Gods,  etc'  "'  This  sentiment  is  characteristic 
of  Jackson,  who  in  early  life  was  irreligious  but  never  skeptical. 
Moreover,  the  heroic  in  his  own  nature  responded  fully  to  the 
stern  justice  of  the  Hebrew  lawgiver. 

The  Florida  governorship  brought  about  a  coolness  between 
Jackson  and   Monroe.     When  Fromentin  submitted  his  case 

iThese  notes  seem  to  have  been  intended  as  outline  of  a  reply  to  his  opponents  in  the  proposed  congressional 
investigation  of  1822.    They  are  in  the  Jackson  Mss.  and  are  without  date. 


320  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

to  the  authorities  in  Washington  he  received  a  letter  from  Adams 
in  which  the  secretary  said  that  the  President  "is  persuaded  that 
your  motives  and  intentions  were  entirely  pure,  though  he 
deeply  regrets  the  collision  of  authority  and  misunderstanding 
which  has  arisen  between  the  governor  of  the  Territory  and 
you."  Another  feature  of  the  letter  was  the  secretary's  assur- 
ance that  Fromentin's  authority  was  limited  to  two  laws:  "in 
the  execution  of  those  laws,  in  your  judicial  capacity,  the  gover- 
nor has  been  informed  that  you  are  considered  amenable  only 
to  the  government  of  the  United  States."'  This  was  bad,  in 
Jackson's  eyes,  but  worse  still  was  Monroe's  annual  message, 
December  3,  1821,  because  it  was  directed  to  congress,  where 
Crawford  and  Clay  had  many  supporters.  It  repeated  the 
President's  expression  of  confidence  in  Fromentin  with  provoking 
impartiality,  and  although  it  sought  to  balance  this  by  warm 
praise  of  the  patriotism  and  gallantry  "of  the  officer  holding 
the  principal  command,"  the  sting  was  deep.'  Jackson's  friends 
in  Washington  soon  knew  how  he  felt.  He  attributed  Monroe's 
lukewarmness  to  the  influence  of  Crawford;  and  Dr.  Bronaugh, 
then  his  most  confidential  representative  in  the  capital,  told 
Monroe's  son-in-law  as  much  one  night  at  a  ball.  Next  morning 
Bronaugh  was  summoned  to  the  White  House  and  received  a 
long  explanation  which  he  was  requested  to  transmit  to  the 
"Hermitage."  Even  this  made  little  impression  on  the  general, 
and  three  months  later,  May  30th,  the  President  wrote  a  letter 
himself,  filling  it  with  assurances  of  friendship.  It  brought  a 
mild  reply  from  Jackson,  who  professed  satisfaction  and  as- 
sured his  correspondent  that  nothing  could  interrupt  their 
friendship.  But  by  this  time  he  was  fairly  launched  on  his 
presidential  canvass,  and  Monroe  was  too  closely  identified 
with  the  Virginia  influence  which  was  working  for  Crawford 

^American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II,  848. 
'Richaidson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  II.,  192. 


GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  321 

to  permit  the  restoration  of  the  most  cordial  relations  with  the 
Tennesseean.'  The  political  situation  was  shifting  rapidly, 
and  for  Jackson  destiny  was  closing  one  portal  and  opening 
another.  Before  the  summer  was  gone  he  was  definitely  before 
the  country  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency. 

-^ijackson  to  Gadsen,  May  2;  to  Bronaugli,  July  18;  to  Monroe,  July  26:  Bronaugh  to  Jackson,  ?ebruary 
23,  1832.  Jackson  Mss.;  Mooroe,  Writings,  VI.,  291. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824 

The  time  at  which  Jackson  became  a  presidential  candidate 
was  auspicious  for  forming  new  political  parties.  The  chief 
problems  of  Jefferson's  day,  economy,  peace,  and  the  payment 
of  the  debt,  passed  away  as  soon  as  war  ceased  in  Europe  and 
America.  Eighteen  hundred  and  fifteen  brought  new  issues, 
and  the  republicans  were  practical  enough  to  accept  them.  The 
tariff,  the  bank,  and  internal  improvements  seemed  necessary  to 
the  national  development.  They  were  matters  of  social  im- 
provement at  national  expense  and  violated  Jefferson's  theory  of 
states'  rights.  But  the  party  had  new  leaders,  young  men  who 
placed  expediency  above  the  doctrines  of  1798;  and  they  con- 
vinced congress  that  experience  during  the  recent  war  proved 
the  new  policies  necessary.  As  the  years  passed  social  develop- 
ment at  national  expense  became  less  popular  and  the  republican 
party  began  to  divide  into  two  groups,  one  supporting  the  new, 
and  the  other  the  older,  view.  The  former  group  had  its  most 
aggressive  leaders  in  Clay  and  Calhoun,  two  positive  men  who 
could  not  themselves  agree  to  act  together.  With  them  went 
for  a  while  Crawford,  but  his  ardor  cooled  when  he  found  on  the 
other  side  the  old  Virginia  influence,  led  by  Monroe  and  coun- 
tenanced by  Madison  and  Jefferson,  who  were  still  oracles  for 
a  great  many  republicans.  Van  Buren,  his  chief  lieu- 
tenant in  the  North,  had  pronounced  views  in  favor  of 
the   principles    of     1798.'    Adams    was  a     nationalist,    also, 


'Van  Buren's  enpublished  Mss.  Autobiography,  Library  of  Congress,  passim. 

322 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824     323 

but  gave  himself  to  the  duties  of  his  office  of  secretary 
of  state  and  in  consequence  his  views  were  not  prominently  be- 
fore the  public. 

General  Jackson's  attitude  on  these  matters  at  this  time  is 
not  clear.  He  was  probably  indifferent  both  on  the  bank  ques- 
tion and  in  regard  to  internal  improvements.  He  supported 
the  tariff  on  the  ground  that  domestic  manufactures  would  make 
us  independent  of  foreign  markets  in  time  of  war,  but  he  was  not 
an  extreme  protectionist.  A  man  of  action,  he  had  few  theories, 
but  these  were  of  the  school  of  1798.  In  his  early  political 
career  he  followed  Macon,  Randolph  and  Monroe  and  opposed 
Jefferson  and  Madison.  When  the  theories  of  that  school 
were  revived  after  1820,  he  came  back  to  them.  He  wrote 
Monroe  a  letter  in  congratulation  of  the  veto  of  the  Cumber- 
land Road  biir —  the  first  striking  evidence  of  the  revival — and 
later  he  steadily  held  that  internal  improvements  and  the  bank 
were  unconstitutional.  But  he  never  changed  his  opinion 
on  the  tariff,  either  because  of  a  sense  of  consistency,  or  because 
some  of  his  strongest  support  in  the  North  was  protectionist, 
or  because  the  low  tariff  movement  was  led  by  Calhoun  and 
the  nuUifiers,  whom  he  disliked  greatly. 

The  campaign  of  1824  was  fairly  opened  in  1822,  and  the  ter- 
ritorial support  of  the  several  candidates  became  a  subject  of 
general  importance.  Now  the  old  Virginia-New  York  alliance 
was  strong,  because  Virginia  could  speak  for  a  group  of  Southern 
states,  and  New  York  had  influence  in  the  North.  Kentucky 
was  an  obedient  daughter  of  the  Old  Dominion;  North  Caro- 
lina, always  weak  in  initiative,  surrendered  herself  to  the  leader- 
ship of  her  northern  sister  and  with  her  carried  her  own  daughter, 
Tennessee.  Georgia  acted  with  these  four  states,  and  the  five, 
during  the  time  of  the  Virginia  hegemony,  had  an  average 
number  of  fifty-nine  electoral  votes.     New  York  during  the 

Mackson  to  Monroe,  July  26,  1822,  Jackson  Mss. 


324  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

same  period  had  an  average  of  twenty-three  votes,  to  say  nothing 
of  those  of  New  Jersey  which  she  usually  controlled.  Together 
the  alliance  cast  eighty-two  votes,  while  for  the  period  under 
consideration  the  average  total  number  of  votes  was  one  hundred 
and  ninety.  The  basis  of  the  cooperation  was  the  assignment  of 
the  presidency  to  Virginia  and  the  vice-presidency  to  New 
York;  and  the  arrangement  was  observed  throughout  the 
Virginia  hegemony,  except  during  the  Clinton  defection.  The 
figures  here  given  will  show  how  easy  it  was  for  this  powerful 
group,  bound  together  by  self-interest,  to  dominate  the  fortunes 
of  the  republican  party. 

In  1822  the  ancient  alliance  was  greatly  shorn  of  its  strength. 
The  two  principals  did  indeed  hold  together,  giving  their  in- 
fluence for  Crawford;  but  Kentucky  had  her  own  son  in  the 
race  and  was  not  to  be  counted  on  by  the  old  combination. 
Tennessee  was  in  the  same  situation.  South  Carolina,  also, 
had  a  candidate;  and  North  Carolina  was  more  inclined  to 
divide  her  votes  between  Jackson  and  Calhoun  than  to  give 
them  to  Virginia's  favorite,  himself  a  Georgian.  Crawford, 
therefore,  could  count  on  nothing  more  than  his  own  state  and 
Virginia,  with  whatever  he  could  wring  out  of  the  legislature 
of  New  York,  where,  in  spite  of  the  influence  of  the  republican 
organization,  old  federalism  was  rearing  its  head  again. 

None  of  the  other  candidates  seemed  to  have  better  chances 
than  Crawford.  Calhoun  was  known  as  a  leading  champion 
of  internal  improvements,  and  his  feeling  was  broadly  national. 
Pennsylvania  liked  him  for  both  reasons,  and  the  politicians 
there  were  united  on  him,  probably  through  the  influence  of 
the  capitalistic  element  of  the  party.  New  England  also  liked 
him  next  to  Adams,  its  own  son.  Clay  had  his  own  state  and 
most  of  the  votes  from  the  region  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  he  had 


»These  figures  would  be  more  significant  if  they  were  based  on  votes  in  caucus,  but,  unfortunately  such  votes 
are  not  preserved  by  states. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1S24       325 

hopes  in  New  York  and  the  lower  Southwest.  Adams  could 
count  on  New  England,  and  that  part  of  the  republican  party 
which  was  most  aUied  to  federalism  was  his  instinctively.  Such 
was  the  general  situation  when  General  Jackson,  the  last  of  the 
candidates  to  arrive  on  the  field,  made  his  appearance. 

The  jealousy  of  other  states    of    Virginia    tended  to  unite 
them   against    Crawford,    Virginia's    candidate.     The   Jackson 
managers  shrewdly  utilized  it  in  cutting  North   Carolina,  in 
spite  of  the  influence  of  Nathaniel  Macon,  out  of  the  old  alliance. 
The  situation  there  as  early  as  1822  was  the  field  against  Craw-, 
ford.     A  "People's  Ticket"  was  planned  on  which  were  some 
Calhoun,  some  Jackson,  and  some  Adams  electors,  the  agree- 
ment being  that  they  should  all  combine  at  last  for  the  man  most 
likely  to  beat  the  Georgian.     When  Calhoun  ceased  to  aspire 
to  first  place,  and  Adams  ceased  to  be  seriously  considered  in  the 
state,  this  became  a  regular  Jackson  ticket.     Just  before  the 
election,  Eaton,  confident  of  victory,  wrote  the  North  Carolina 
managers  as  follows: 

What  will  Virginia  do?  What  can  she  do?  Her  old  allies 
Pennsylvania  and  North  Carolina  have  thrown  off  their  leading- 
strings,  and  arrogated  to  themselves  the  right  of  thinking  for 
themselves.  On  them  the  dictatorial  voice  of  Virginia  is  lost. 
Will  Virginia  separate  now  from  those  two  states  and  thus 
jeopardize  her  future  political  consequence?  Those  leaders 
in  the  state,  who  have  managed  heretofore  the  people,  as  a 
village  school  master  his  little  boys,  will  think  well  of  this  'ere 
the  hour  of  trial  arrives.  Strange  that  she  should  act  upon  the 
principle  of  pressing,  long  as  possible,  one  of  her  own  citizens; 
and  when  the  race  is  extinct  then  to  look  for  a  collateral  residing 
in  another  state.  None  but  a  native  Virginian  is  qualified  and 
fit  to  rule  the  affairs  of  this  country,  as  her  politicians  and 
leading  men  would  maintain.' 


lEaton  to  Colonel  William  Polk,  September  12,  1824,  Mss.  in  possession  of  William  H.  Hoj^t,  of  New  York 
City. 


326  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

Before  1822  many  people  had  Jackson's  possible  candidacy  in 
mind,  and  he  must  have  been  conscious  of  the  fact;  but  his 
intimate  correspondence  fails  to  show  any  plan  on  his  own  part, 
or  knowledge  of  the  plans  of  others,  which  would  promote  his 
election.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  interested  in  the  chances 
of  the  other  candidates  opposing  Crawford  and  Clay  and  favor- 
ing either  Adams  or  Calhoun.  Adams's  defense  of  the  Seminole 
war  and  of  the  arrest  of  Callava  aroused  his  admiration,  and 
Calhoun's  support  in  the  congressional  investigation  of  1S19 
brought  the  general  and  the  secretary  into  cordial  relations. 
The  South  Carolinian  carefully  cultivated  this  friendship,  and  it 
seems  rather  singular  to  hear  this  cool  master  of  logic  say  to 
the  passionate  and  usually  biased  Tennesseean;  "  Your  country's 
fame  and  yours  is  one.  I  would  rather  have  your  good  opinion 
with  the  approbation  of  my  own  mind  than  all  the  popularity 
which  a  pretended  love  of  the  people,  and  a  course  of  popularity 
hunting  can  excite." '  The  date  of  this  utterance  was  March  7, 
1 82 1,  a  year  before  Jackson  definitely  decided  to  run  for  the 
presidency. 

Throughout  this  year  he  remained  undecided,  thinking  more 
about  the  others  than  himself.  December  6th  he  wrote  in 
apparent  frankness  to  a  Calhoun  supporter  repudiating  the 
notion  that  Crawford  might  carry  Tennessee,  and  saying: 
"Nor  need  they  expect  any  other  than  Mr.  Adams  to  be  sup- 
ported in  this  state  unless  some  Southern  candidate  should 
arise  —  and  I  am  certain  no  man  in  the  South  could  concentrate 
the  votes  of  the  South  and  West,  but  Mr.  Calhoun  —  and  you 
are  at  liberty  to  say  in  my  name  both  to  my  friends  and  enemies 
—  that  I  will  as  far  as  my  influence  extends  support  Mr.  Adams 
unless  Mr.  Calhoun  should  be  brought  forward,  and  that  I  have 
no  doubt  but  Mr.  Adams  will  outpole  Mr.  Crawford  in  the 


ijackson  Mss.     See  also  in  the  same,  Calhoun  to  Jackson,  April  i,  1821,  and  Jackson  to  Calhoun,  May 
33,  1831. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       327 

South  and  West.  ...  P.  S.  As  to  Wm.  H.  Crawford  you 
know  my  opinion.  I  would  support  the  Devil  first.'"  This 
letter  was  shown  to  Calhoun  and  gave  him  much  satisfaction. 
At  this  time  Jackson's  friends  were  probably  still  in  doubt 
about  bringing  him  forward.'  They  watched  carefully  the 
situation,  which  changed  continuously.  December  3d,  Eaton 
in  Washington  summed  it  as  follows: 

While  he  who  now  fills  the  halls  of  the  White  House  is  slowly 
closing  his  eyes  upon  the  rich  trifles  of  the  world,  like  an  old 
father  he  stands  surrounded  by  three  full  grown  sons,  each 
seeking  the  inheritance  on  his  departure.  John  Q.,  from  the 
favors  bestowed  by  the  old  man  in  his  life  time  has  been  deemed 
a  favorite  always:  J.  C,  however,  from  being  possessed  of  a 
sanguine  temper,  sets  up  also  pretensions  to  the  inheritance. 
William  and  the  old  gentleman,  you  know,  it  has  been  reported 
are  constantly  disagreeing  in  opinion  and  are  hence  not  quite 
so  friendly,  as  father  and  son  should  be;  be  this  as  it  may,  it 
seems  pretty  well  settled  that  the  Virginia  estate  if  not  already 
done,  will  be  apportioned  to  the  Latter.' 

The  conviction  that  Adams  was  losing  ground  ought,  by 
Jackson's  declaration  of  December  6th,  to  have  given  the  Ten- 
nessee influence  to  Calhoun;  but  other  plans  were  made,  and 
the  information  from  Washington  that  Calhoun  was  gaining 
rapidly*  made  prompt  action  necessary.  Accordingly,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1822,  the  first  open  steps  were  taken  in  behalf  of  the  new 
candidate.  The  newspapers  of  Nashville  began  to  urge  him 
for  President,  and  party  leaders  watched  the  journals  of  the 
country  to  see  what  impression  was  made.  The  suggestion  was 
well  received,  especially  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Jackson 
group  decided  to  go  further.     One  of  them,  Felix  Grundy,  on 

'Jackson  to  Gadsden,  December  6,  1821,  Jackson,  Mss. 

'Calhoun  to  Maxey,  December  31,  1821,  Marcou  Mss.,  Library  of  Congress. 

'Eaton  to  Jackson,  December  3,  1822,  Jackson  Mss. 

«Dr.  Bronaugh  to  Jackson,  January  7,  1822,  Jackson  Mss. 


328  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

June  27th,  wrote  to  Jackson  to  ask  if  any  reason  unknown  to 
the  public  existed  why  Jackson  should  not  be  nominated  for 
the  office  of  President  at  the  approaching  session  of  the  legis- 
lature/ The  reply  was  characteristic:  he  would,  he  said, 
neither  seek  nor  shun  the  presidency.  This  was  all  that  his 
supporters  desired.  July  20th,  the  Tennessee  legislature  ad- 
journed for  a  few  minutes  and,  the  speaker  and  members  keep- 
ing their  seats,  the  following  resolutions  were  passed: 

The  members  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  state  of  Ten- 
nessee, taking  into  view  the  great  importance  of  the  selection 
of  a  suitable  person  to  fill  the  presidential  chair  at  the  approach- 
ing election  for  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  United  States,  and 
seeing  that  those  who  achieved  our  independence,  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  American  republic,  have  nearly  passed  away; 
and  believing  that  moral  worth,  political  requirements  and 
decision  of  character,  should  unite  in  the  individual  who  may 
be  called  to  preside  over  the  people  of  the  United  States,  have 
turned  their  eyes  to  Andrew  Jackson,  late  major-general  in  the 
armies  of  the  United  States.  In  him  they  behold  the  soldier, 
the  statesman,  and  the  honest  man;  he  deliberates,  he  decides, 
and  he  acts;  he  is  calm  in  deliberation,  cautious  in  decision, 
efficient  in  action.  Such  a  man  we  are  willing  to  aid  in  electing 
to  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  a  free  people.  The  welfare 
of  a  country  may  be  safely  entrusted  to  the  hands  of  him  who 
has  experienced  every  privation,  and  encountered  every  danger, 
to  promote  its  safety,  its  honor,  and  its  glory.     Therefore, 

Resolved,  As  the  opinion  of  the  members  composing  the  general 
assembly  of  the  state  of  Tennessee,  that  the  name  of  major- 
general  Andrew  Jackson  be  submitted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  at  the  approaching  election  for 
the  chief  magistracy." 

A  week  later  he  wrote  to  an  intimate  friend  in  apparent 
sincerity:   "I  have  no  desire,  nor  do  I  expect  ever  to  be  called 

'Grundy  to  Jackson,  June  27,  1822,  Jackson  to  Grundy,  Bronaugh,  July  18,  1822,  Jackson  Mss. 
2Niles,  Register,  XXII.,  402. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       329 

to  fill  the  Presidential  chair,  but  should  this  be  the  case,  contrary 
to  my  wishes  or  expectations,  I  am  determined  it  shall  be  with- 
out any  exertion  on  my  part.'" 

The  address  of  the  Tennessee  legislature  contained  both 
truth  and  error.  Jackson  was  undoubtedly  honest,  patriotic, 
eJElicient,  and  ready  to  make  great  sacrifices  for  the  interest  of 
country;  but  it  was  sheer  adulation  to  say  that  he  was  "calm 
in  deliberation,  cautious  in  decision."  His  nomination  violated 
all  precedents  and  his  opponents  pronounced  it  ridiculous.  Web- 
ster thought  the  nominee  entirely  unfit  and  told  of  an  interview 
with  Jefferson  in  1824,  in  which  the  latter  is  alleged  to  have  said: 

I  feel  much  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  seeing  General  Jack- 
son President.  He  is  one  of  the  most  unfit  men  I  know  of 
for  such  a  place.  He  has  very  little  respect  for  law  or  con- 
stitutions, and  is,  in  fact,  an  able  military  chief.  His  passions 
are  terrible.  When  I  was  president  of  the  senate,  he  was  a 
senator,  and  he  could  never  speak  on  account  of  the  rashness 
of  his  feelings.  I  have  seen  him  attempt  it  repeatedly,  and  as 
often  choke  with  rage.  His  passions  are,  no  doubt,  cooler 
now;  he  has  been  much  tried  since  I  knew  him,  but  he  is  a  dan- 
gerous man."" 

Webster's  report  has  been  widely  quoted;  but  it  is  hardly 
to  be  reconciled  with  the  following  expression  in  a  letter  from 
Jefferson  to  Jackson,  December  18,  1823: 

"I  recall  with  pleasure  the  remembrance  of  our  joint  labors 
while  in  senate  together  in  times  of  great  trial  and  of  hard  bat- 
tling. Battles  indeed  of  words,  not  of  blood,  as  those  you  have 
since  fought  so  much  for  your  own  glory  and  that  of  your  coun- 
try. With  the  assurance  that  my  attamts.  [attachments] 
continue  undiminished,  accept  that  of  my  great  respect  and 
considn.'" 

ijackson  to  Bronaugh,  August   i,  1822,  Jackson  Mss. 
tWebster,  Private  Correspondence,  I.,  371. 
•See  Jefferson  Mss.  Library  of  Congress. 


330  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

Jackson's  strength  lay  with  the  people,  that  of  most  of  his 
opponents  lay  with  the  members  of  congress  and  other  politi- 
cians, whose  influence  was  accustomed  to  carry  the  elections. 
Most  of  these  leaders  were  committed  to  one  of  the  other  can- 
didates when  Jackson  was  nominated.  They  did  not  think  him 
qualified  for  the  presidency,  they  were  not  drawn  by  his  master- 
ful personality,  and  they  did  not  think  he  would  win.  His 
managers  felt  that  newspapers  and  an  organization  of  their 
own  were  necessary  in  order  to  make  active  his  strength  with 
the  people.  They  succeeded  in  creating  such  an  organization 
and  it  finally  attracted  the  majority  of  the  voters  out  of  the  camp 
of  the  older  leaders  into  that  of  the  new.  The  process  was  crude 
for  two  reasons:  (i)  the  people  were  reached  by  illiberal  argu- 
ments; and  (2)  the  new  politicians  were  apt  to  be  uncouth,  some 
of  them  being  repudiated  leaders  in  the  older  groups,  others 
new  men  of  little  experience,  others  mere  adventurers,  and  still 
others  men  of  great  natural  ability  who  were  destined  to  achieve 
eminence.  As  Jackson's  fortunes  improved  many  of  the  older 
politicians  joined  him.  Leadership  now  became  more  con- 
ventional and  appeals  to  voters  less  passionate;  but  it  was  a 
long  time  before  Jacksonian  democracy  lost  its  distinctively 
popular  quality. 

The  first  field  in  which  Jackson's  managers  tried  their  strength 
was  Louisiana,  where,  in  the  spring  of  1823,  they  sought  to  get 
the  legislature  to  nominate  their  candidate.  The  attempt 
was  not  successful.  Clay's  friends  were  numerous,  the  enemies 
whom  Jackson  made  by  his  quarrels  at  New  Orleans  were  united 
against  him,  and  the  French  speaking  members  of  the  legis- 
lature were  drawn  the  same  way,  so  that  thirty-four  of  the 
sixty  members  were  induced  to  sign  resolutions  in  behalf  of 
the  Kentucky  candidate.  The  attempt  to  make  Jackson 
President  had  not  at  that  time  the  approval  of  some  of  his 
best  friends  in  the  state:  Livingston,  Duncan,  and   Grymes, 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824 


>50 


all  his  defenders  in  ordinary  matters,  refused  to  support  the 
movement  in  the  legislature.  But  Clay  could  not  maintain 
the  advantage  he  had  gained:  in  the  election  in  the  following 
year,  Louisiana  gave  two  of  her  electoral  votes  to  Adams,  three 
to  Jackson,  and  none  to  Clay." 

The  next  state  to  attract  attention  was  Pennsylvania,  where 
Thomas  J.  Rogers,  a  member  of  congress  and  a  manufacturer, 
and  S.  D.  Ingham,  a  popular  lawyer,  organized  the  politicians 
for  Calhoun  as  early  as  1821/  But  the  Pennsylvania  farmers 
felt  little  interest  in  him,  particularly  those  who  lived  in  the 
western  half  of  the  state,  where  the  Scotch-Irish  predominated. 
Jackson  was  the  son  of  a  Scotch-Irish  immigrant,  and  his  most 
prominent  qualities  were  characteristic  of  that  stock.  As 
soon,  therefore,  as  he  was  urged  for  the  presidency,  the  Calhoun 
leaders  of  this  region  began  to  have  trouble.  Henry  Baldwin, 
of  Pittsburg,  was  chief  of  them  and  had  much  difficulty  in  de- 
ciding which  way  he  should  go.  He  first  leaned  to  Jackson 
till  laughed  out  of  it  by  the  supporters  of  Crawford  and  then 
turned  away  just  as  the  Jackson  wave  overwhelmed  the 
community.  A  letter  from  Edward  Patchell,  an  ignorant 
preacher  of  the  neighborhood,  tells  how  the  crisis  came  to 
Pittsburg. 

Patchell  was  the  leader  of  a  group  of  Jackson  men  from  an 
earlier  stage  of  the  contest  and  became  so  prominent  in  it  that 
he  was  nicknamed  "Old  Hickory."  In  1824,  he  was  elected 
brigadier-general  of  militia  because  of  his  sobriquet,  as  he 
said.  He  had  long  had  political  ambitions,  but  being  unedu- 
cated he  "stood  in  the  rear  ranks,"  as  he  himself  said,  "and 
never  ventured  in  the  front  until  Andrew  Jackson,  the  son  of 
my  dear  countryman,  was  announced  a  candidate  for  the  first 
ofl&ce   in   the   people's   gift."     He   estabhshed    The   Alleghany 

>Isaac  L.  Baker  to  Jackson,  February  26,  May  3,  1823:  David  C.  Ker  to  Jackson,  November  23,  1824; 
<ackson  Mss. 
•Hunt,  Calhoun,  48. 


332  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

Democrat  with  one  of  his  "meer  boys"  for  editor  and  asserted, 
with  apparent  sincerity,  that  he  did  not  desire  office.  His 
account  of  his  conduct  in  regard  to  the  nomination,  spite  of 
some  errors  of  facts,  illustrates  well  the  Western  upheaval. 
He  continues: 

Altho  I  well  knew  that  my  talents  were  unadequate  to  the . 
task,  yet  I  depended  not  only  in  my  personal  courage  alone, 
but  I  trusted  in  my  God,  and  your  God,  \yhome  hath  raised 
you  up  for  to  be  a  Saviour  and  a  deliverour  for  his  people.  I 
considered  you  were  justly  entitled  to  the  nation's  gratitude, 
and  altho  I  well  knew  that  I  was  not  a  poletetion,  yet  neverthe- 
less ware  I  to  try  I  could  do  something.  And  if  Henery  Bald- 
win had,  as  he  promised  assisted  me,  I  would  not  have  had  the 
half  of  the  trouble  or  difficulty  in  turning  the  people  on  the 
straight  course  that  I  had.  Mr.  Baldwin  wrote  the  advertise- 
ment for  the  call  of  the  first  meeting  which  was  held  in  the 
Courthouse  in  favour  of  your  Election,  and  sent  it  to  me  to  get 
it  published.  The  meeting  was  very  numerous,  much  larger 
than  ever  had  been  known  here.  After  the  chairman  and  the 
secretaries  ware  appointed  Mr.  Baldwin  states  the  object  of 
the  meeting,  and  your  name  ware  placed  at  the  foot  of  the  list. 
Wm.  H.  Crawford  got  one  vote,  H.  Clay  five,  J.  Q.  Adams 
two,  J.  C.  Calhoun  four,  and  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  upward 
of  looo.  A  resolution  was  then  offered  that  "Henry  Baldwin 
be  appointed  to  write  an  address"  to  the  democratic  republicans 
throughout  the  United  States.  But  the  very  next  day,  as  I 
have  understood,  Mr.  Baldwin  met  with  Judge  Riddle,  your 
old  boot-maker,  and  he  hooted  him  and  fully  persuaded  him 
that  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Crawford  would  be  taken  up  in  caucus,  and 
would  be  elected  President  beyond  any  manner  of  doubt.  From 
that  day  until  this,  Mr.  Baldwin  was  never  known  to  write 
the  scrape  of  a  pen  either  for  or  against  you  —  But  I  believe 
has  ever  since  been  praying  good  God,  good  Devil  not  knowing 
whose  hands  he  might  fall  into.  I  was  then  drove  to  the  alter- 
native of  inlisting  a  young  lawyer  under  my  banner,  meer  boys, 
as  Judge  Riddle  used  to  call  them.  But  with  the  assistance  of 
the  boys  I  have  accomplished  wonders.     I  have  reduced  the 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       333 

Lousie  party  here  from  ten  thousand  to  something  less  than 
fifty,  and  they  are  chiefly  the  antient  and  notorious  wire  workers, 
they  are  the  office  holders  and  office  hunters,  and  all  they  can 
do  now  is  grin  and  shew  their  teeth.  .  .  .  Had  I  been  in  pos- 
session of  the  learning,  talents  and  political  knowledge  of  Henry 
Baldwain,  I  have  the  vanity  to  think  that  long  ere  now,  I  would 
have  reduced  the  people  into  a  sense  of  their  duty.  But  Jack- 
son, I  must  repeat  it,  I  have  done  no  more  than  my  duty,  and 
I  even  forbid  you  to  return  me  thanks:  And  should  we  fail 
this  Election,  I  will  pray  my  God  to  spare  life  until  I  see  Andrew 
Jackson  President  of  the  United  States,  and  then  let  me  close 
my  eyes  in  peace.'  . 

Patchell  spoke  for  Pittsburg;  a  meeting  at  Carlisle,  in  the 
central  part  of  the  state,  showed  the  same  temper.  It  was  called 
by  Calhoun  supporters  to  get  him  endorsed  for  the  presidency. 
When  resolutions  to  that  effect  were  about  to  be  voted  on, 
it  was  moved  to  substitute  Jackson's  name  for  Calhoun's  and 
the  motion  was  carried  with  enthusiasm.  The  poHticians 
could  not  misread  such  signs  as  these.  George  M.  Dallas,  at 
first  for  the  South  Carolinian,  showed  them  what  must  be 
done  to  preserve  their  leadership  when  he  threw  a  Philadelphia 
meeting  into  the  Jackson  camp,  remarking  as  he  did  so  that  he 
acted  merely  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  people.  Calhoun's 
hope  in  Pennsylvania  was,  indeed,  gone;  and  March  4,  1824, 
a  state  convention  at  Harrisburg  declared  for  Jackson  by  what 
was  practically  a  unanimous  majority.  The  same  meeting 
nominated  Calhoun  for  vice-president,  thus  announcing  to 
the  world  a  compromise  which  had  been  quietly  arranged  be- 
tween the  supporters  of  the  Tennesseean  and  South  Carolinian.' 

The  sudden  swing  of  the  state  from  his  column,  as  shown  in 
the  Philadelphia  meeting  and  the  Harrisburg  convention  of 
February,   1824,  brought  dismay  to  Calhoun.     He  had  built 

^Edward  Patchell  to  Jackson,  August  7, 1824,  Jackson  Mss.    Henry  Baldwin  was  for  Jackson  in  a  timorous 
way  in  the  preceding  year.     See  his  letter  to  Jackson,  January  2,  1823,  Jackson  Mss. 
•Parton,  Jackson,  III.,  28. 


334  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

his  hopes  on  the  politicians:  Jackson's  rested  with  the  people. 
To  one  of  his  confidential  lieutenants  Calhoun  unburdened 
himself  as  follows : 

The  movement  at  Philadelphia  was  as  unexpected  to  me 
as  it  could  have  been  to  any  of  my  friends.  It  has  produced 
the  deepest  excitement.  Mr.  Dallas  had  informed  me  about 
a  week  before  that  he  thought  the  cause  was  lost  in  Pena.  and 
that  we  should  have  to  yield  there,  at  the  Harrisburg  conven- 
tion. Tho'  prepared  for  defeat  [at]  Harrisburg,  no  movement 
in  advance  was  anticipated.  What  took  place  was  unprece- 
dented and  under  a  sudden  impulse  received  from  the  caucus 
nomination  here,  and  the  loss  of  Berks  which  decided  the  con- 
test in  favor  of  Genl.  Jackson  in  Pena.  I  have  no  doubt  the 
motives  were  pure;  and  tho'  ill  timed  as  it  regards  Dallas  and 
our  cause,  yet  not  unfavorable  to  the  great  point  of  defeating 
the  radicals.  Our  friends  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  we 
ought  to  hold  to  our  position,  and  wait  events.  It  is  thought 
to  be  the  best  in  every  point  of  view,  whether  it  regards  the 
country,  or  ourselves.  Nor  will  there  be  much  difficulty. 
South  Carolina  and  Jersey  can  easily  be  restored  as  they  are. 
In  North  Carolina,  the  friends  of  Jackson  will  not  start  another 
ticket,  with  the  understanding  that  the  one  formed  will  support 
him,  should  I  have  no  prospects  in  Pena.  a  ticket  will  be  formed 
favourable  to  me  as  a  second  choice,  and  the  same  course  will 
be  pursued  in  Louisiana,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Missouri, 
and  Tennessee.  In  Maryland  it  is  highly  desirable  that  my 
friends  should  run  in  as  many  districts  as  possible,  taking  Jack- 
son if  necessary  as  a  second  choice,  or  taking  position  simply 
against  the  caucus  with  the  determination  to  support  the 
strongest. 

Jackson's  friends  indicate  a  disposition  to  add  my  name 
to  his  ticket  in  Pena.  as  V.  P.  We  have  determined  in  relation 
to  it  to  leave  events  to  take  their  own  course,  that  is  to  leave  the 
determination  to  his  friends.  Standing  as  I  do  before 
the  American  people,  I  can  look  to  no  other  position, 
than  that  which  I  occupy.  Had  Pena.  decided  favour- 
ably the  prospect   would    have  been  most  fair.     Taking  the 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824  335 

U.  S.  together  I  never  had  a  fairer  prospect   than   on  the  day 
we  lost  the  state.' 

Calhoun's  interests,  it  was  thought,  would  be  advanced  by 
the  combination  now  made.  He  was  still  a  young  man  and 
could  afford  to  wait  for  honors.  He  and  Jackson  were  united 
by  their  opposition  to  Crawford,  then  considered  the  most 
formidable  candidate  for  the  common  goal.  Moreover,  it  was 
not  difficult  to  effect  the  cooperation.  Jackson  and  Calhoun 
were  friends  before  the  former  was  nominated  by  Tennessee 
in  1822,  and  although  their  friendship  cooled  after  that  event 
it  did  not  disappear  entirely.  It  was  possible  for  the  latter  to 
say  in  1823 :  "I  find  few  with  whom  I  accord  so  fully  in  relation 
to  political  affairs  as  yourself.  I  have  a  thorough  conviction 
that  the  noble  maxim  of  yours,  to  do  right  and  fear  not  is  the 
basis,  not  only  of  Republicanism,  according  to  its  true  accept- 
ance, but  of  all  political  virtue;  and  that  he  who  acts  on  it, 
must  in  the  end  prevail.  The  political  quibblers  will  fail. 
The  cause  of  the  Georgian  is,  if  I  mistake  not,  rapidly  declining. 
It  has  no  foundation  in  truth,  and  can  only  be  propped  by  false 
pretenses.  Should  he  fail  in  New  York,  as  I  think  he  must, 
he  will  not  have  the  least  prospect  of  success.'"  That  the 
towering  mind  of  Calhoun  could  speak  such  platitudes  with 
apparent  unction  indicates  that  he  was  exceedingly  anxious 
to  preserve  the  good  will  of  Jackson. 

A  similar  combination  was  attempted  between  Clay  and 
Crawford,  but  without  success.  Rumors  of  it  reached  Jackson 
in  the  summer  of  1823,  and  Calhoun  said  that  he  believed  such 
a  purpose  existed  among  the  friends  of  those  candidates.  "I 
hope,"  he  said,  "we  shall  never  present  the  example  of  coalition, 
intrigue  or  management  advancing  any  citizen  to  the  highest 

'Calhoun  to  V.  Maxey,  February  27,  1824,  Marcou  Papers,  Library  of  Congress. 

'Calhoun  to  Jackson,  March  30, 1823,  Jackson  Mss.  See  also  Gadsden  to  Jackson,  July  30, 1823,  in  the  same 
collection. 


336  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

honor  of  the  country.  The  influence  of  such  an  example  would 
be  pernicious  in  the  extreme.  If  the  people  can  be  cheated, 
they  will  not  be  served.  Virtuous  servants  would  be  discouraged 
and  the  unprincipled  only  would  thrive.'"  Thus  spoke  the 
bargaining  Calhoun  in  condemnation  of  the  bargain  of  Clay. 

Crawford's  lieutenants  seem  to  have  been  responsible  for 
the  approaches  to  the  supporters  of  Clay,  and  Van  Buren  v;as 
active  in  the  business.  He  dwelt  upon  the  shattered  state  of 
Crawford's  health,  which,  he  said,  would  surely  cause  Clay, 
in  1828,  to  come  into  first  place  in  the  combination.  Craw- 
ford's Virginia  friends  were  pleased  at  the  prospects  of  securing 
Clay's  support,  but  thought  the  initiative  in  announcing  him 
should  not  come  from  their  state,  since  Crawford,  also,  was  a 
son  of  the  Old  Dominion.  Clay  discouraged  the  movement 
and  it  was  not  consummated.  He  thus  lost  an  opportunity 
to  acquire  most  of  the  Crawford  following'.  It  was  especially 
significant  that  he  allowed  Van  Buren  and  the  chief  group  of 
New  York  republicans  to  go  to  Jackson  after  fulfilling  its  duty 
to  the  Georgian.  But  this  did  not  operate  in  the  election  of 
1824.  Crawford  was  still  in  the  field;  and  the  union  of  Jackson 
and  Calhoun  brought  into  cooperation  Tennessee,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  South  Carolina,  with  fifty  votes,  and  gave  them  a 
hope  of  carrying  North  Carolina,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi, 
with  twenty- three  votes. 

Early  in  1824,  efforts  were  made  to  combine  the  other  candi- 
dates against  Crawford,  whom  all  feared  and  disliked.  R.  M. 
Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  approached  Adams  and  asked  if  he  would 
cooperate  to  defeat  the  Georgian.  "I  told  him,"  says  Adams, 
"that  I  would  cordially  contribute  to  this  object  to  the  utmost 
of  my  power;  that  to  this  end  I  had  authorized  my  friends 

•Calhoun  to  Jackson,  July  31, 1823,  Jackson  Mss. 

'Van  Buren  to  B.  Ruggles,  Aug.  26;  P.  N.  Nicholas  to  Van  Buren,  October  19  and  31;  J.  A.  Hamilton  to 
Ibid,  December  12;  Van  Buren  to  Crawford,  November;i2,  to  Butler, December  27,  1824:  also  Van  Buren 
Autobiography,  113:  all  in  Van  Buren  Mss. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       337 

in  the  pursuit  of  it,  if  they  should  think  it  expedient,  to  set  me 
altogether  aside,  and  to  concur  in  any  arrangement  necessary 
for  the  union  of  the  republican  party  and  the  public  interests." 
Two  days  later  a  plan  was  submitted  to  him  by  which  he  was  to 
have  the  presidency,  Jackson  the  vice-presidency.  Clay  the 
state  department,  and  Calhoun  the  treasury.  To  this  propo- 
sition, which  was  said  to  have  originated  with  Calhoun,  Adams 
made  no  reply.  Two  weeks  later  the  republican  caucus  was 
held,  and  Crawford  developed  so  little  strength  in  it  that  all 
thought  of  a  combination  against  him  was  dropped."  Echoes 
of  these  plans  reached  Jackson,  but  he  put  them  aside.  He 
would  make  no  bargain,  he  said:  let  his  friends  do  what  was 
best  for  the  country,  and  he  would  be  satisfied. 

The  incident  has  further  interest  because  it  shows  the  rela- 
tive importance  in  which  the  four  candidates  were  regarded 
by  one  who  had  good  ground  for  an  intelligent  opinion.  Jack- 
son now  stood  in  second  rank.  Even  Adams  conceded  this. 
He  declared  that  Jackson  was  fit  for  the  vice-presidency,  that 
the  place  suited  Jackson,  and  that  it  would  be  well  to  have  a 
President  from  the  East  and  a  vice-president  from  the  West. 
"His  name  and  character,"  he  added  complacently,  "would 
serve  to  restore  the  forgotten  dignity  of  the  place,  and  it  would 
afford  an  easy  and  dignified  retirement  to  his  old  age."' 

Before  these  attempted  combinations  ceased  Tennessee  itself 
was  to  be  fought  for.  One  of  the  enemies  whom  Jackson's 
temper  made  was  Col.  John  Williams,  of  Knoxville,  recently 
commanding  the  loth  regiment,  in  which  Thomas  H.  Benton 
was  lieutenant-colonel.  In  181 5  Williams  became  United 
States  senator  and  in  1823  was  up  for  reelection.  He  was 
openly  against  Jackson,  supporting  in  18 19  the  resolutions  to 


'Adams,  Memoirs,  VI.,  241;  Talmadge  to  Jackson,  March  6;  Jackson  to  Talmadge,  March  12, 1824;  Jackson 
Mss. 

•Adams,  Memoirs,  VI.,  253,  333. 


338  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

censure  the  general  for  the  invasion  of  Florida,  and,  it  was 
alleged,  ridiculing  the  nomination  by  the  Tennessee  legislature 
and  saying  it  would  not  be  seriously  supported  by  the  people 
of  the  state.  Mutual  friends  tried  to  make  peace  between  the 
two,  but  Jackson  steadily  refused  to  receive  any  advances 
unless  Williams  acknowledged  his  error  and  apologized,  and 
this  the  senator  would  not  do/  His  reelection  in  1823,  it  was 
felt  by  Jackson's  supporters,  would  be  a  blow  to  their  interests; 
and  they  sought  to  bring  out  a  man  who  could  defeat  him. 
They  first  thought  of  John  Rhea,  but  on  that  basis  they  lacked 
a  majority  by  several  votes.  They  then  decided  that  only 
Jackson  could  defeat  Williams.  He  was  very  unwilling  to  have 
the  office  and  H.  L.  White,  one  of  his  wisest  supporters,  feared 
its  effects,  lest  it  should  be  considered  an  electioneering  scheme; 
but  the  necessity  was  great  and  the  election  was  carried  by  a 
safe  majority.  Of  the  twenty-five  members  of  the  legislature 
who  stood  by  Williams  and  voted  against  the  people's  favorite 
only  three  were  reelected  at  the  next  election.' 

This  danger  past,  the  Jackson  managers  had  time  to  consider 
the  party  caucus,  then  a  most  serious  obstacle.  It  was  in  the 
control  of  Virginians,  and  in  the  days  before  nominating  con- 
ventions it  was  very  influential  with  the  party.  The  Virginians 
were  likely  to  carry  it  for  Crawford,  and  every  other  candidate 
was,  therefore,  against  it.  They  all  pronounced  it  a  futile  means 
of  suggesting  a  presidential  candidate;  but  Jackson,  the  popu- 
lar favorite,  was  peculiarly  interested  in  breaking  down  this 
centre  of  the  politician's  power.'  His  supporters  in  the  Ten- 
nessee legislature  in  1823  passed  resolutions  denouncing  the 
caucus,  instructing  the  state's  congressmen  to  vote  against  it, 
and  calling  on  other  legislatures  to  take  similar  action.     Many 

'McNairy  to  Jackson,  September  3;  Jackson  to  McNairy,  September  6,  1823.     See  also,  Jackson  to  Gea. 
John  Brown,  October  8,  1819;  Jackson  Mss. 
sjackson  to  Polk,  October  25,  1835. 
'Parton,  Jackson,  III.,  23. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       339 

states  acquiesced,  and  so  strong  was  the  sentiment  against  the 
caucus  that  in  Virginia  itself  a  resolution  to  instruct  the  Vir- 
ginia delegation  to  support  it  was  lost  by  one  vote.  The  agi- 
tation succeeded  in  its  purpose :  it  made  the  caucus  so  unpopular 
that  but  sixty-eight  out  of  a  total  of  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
one  congressmen  would  attend  it,  when  it  met  on  February  14, 
1824,  and  of  these  sixty-four  voted  for  Crawford,  who  was 
declared  the  republican  nominee.' 

Another  source  to  which  the  Jackson  managers  looked  for 
votes  was  the  remnant  of  federalists  in  the  Southern  and  Middle 
states.  These  persons  were  too  much  against  the  regular 
repubHcans  to  accept  Crawford,  and  old  animosities  ranged 
them  against  Adams.  Calhoun  had  been  a  favorite  with  them, 
and  his  alliance  with  Jackson  made  it  seem  that  they  could 
be  won  for  the  Tennesseean.  To  influence  their  opinions  the 
managers  brought  out  an  old  correspondence  which  was  supposed 
to  be  agreeable  to  them.  The  story,  which  Parton  under  the 
influence  of  the  garrulous  Major  Lewis  seems  to  have  distorted, 
is   as   follows : 

October  23,  18 16,  Jackson  wrote  to  Monroe,  about  to  be 
elected  President,  recommending  the  appointment  of  Col. 
W.  H.  Drayton,  of  South  Carolina,  a  war  federalist,  as  secretary 
of  war,  basing  his  advice  on  military  grounds.'  Before  a  reply 
could  be  made  he  wrote  again,  November  12th,  urging  Drayton 
on  political  grounds.  "Pardon  me,"  he  said,  "for  the  following 
remark  for  the  next  presidential  term.  Everything  depends 
upon  the  selection  of  your  ministry,  both  as  to  yourself  and 
country.  In  every  situation  party,  and  party  feeling  ought  to 
be  laid  out  of  view  (for  now  is  the  time  to  put  them  down) 
by  selecting  those  the  most  honest,  possessing  capacity,  virtue, 
and  firmness;  by  this  course  you'll  steer  the  national  ship  to 

'McMaster,  United  Slates,  V.,  60-64. 

2The  letter  is  in  draft  in  Jackson's  hand,  Jackson  Mas.  See  also  Parton,  Jackson,  II.,  357,  where  the  text  has 
been  improved. 


340  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

honor  and  preferment,  and  yourself  to  the  united  plaudits  of 
a  happy  country.  Consult  no  party  or  party  feelings  in  your 
choice,  pursue  that  unerring  Judgment  you  possess,  that  for  so 
many  years  has  added  so  much  to  the  benefit  of  our  common 
country.'" 

The  suggestion  suited  Monroe's  theories.  As  an  old  pro- 
tester against  the  regular  republicans  of  Jefferson's  time,  he 
was  disposed  to  be  liberal  in  his  appointments,  and  for  the 
same  reason  he  had  opposition  from  the  regulars.  This  obstacle 
prevented  the  nomination  of  Drayton;  but  Mom'oe  was  not 
displeased  and  became  continually  more  hberal.  In  his  second 
administration  he  openly  announced  an  "amalgamation  policy" 
in  appointments.  His  acceptance  of  Jackson's  theory  brought 
a  third  letter  from  the  latter,  in  which  he  said,  in  expressing  his 
horror  of  the  Pickering  federalists:  "Had  I  commanded  the 
military  department  where  the  Hartford  Convention  met,  if 
it  had  been  the  last  act  of  my  life,  I  should  have  hung  up  the 
three  principal  leaders  of  the  party." 

These  letters  were  written  with  Jackson's  usual  directness, 
but  Major  Lewis  revised  and  embellished  them  before  they 
were  sent  to  the  President-elect.  It  is  to  Lewis  that  we  owe 
the  oft-repeated  phrase,  "the  monster  called  party  spirit." 
Later  he  told  Parton  that  he  considered  them  important  when 
they  were  written,  and  kept  them  in  mind.  From  this  informa- 
tion the  biographer  constructed  a  theory  that  they  were  written 
with  an  eye  to  the  future.  The  theory  is  unsupported;  for 
Jackson  himself  said  they  were  not  written  for  publication,' 
and  the  reference  to  the  Hartford  Convention  would  hardly 
have  appeared  if  such  an  event  had  been  foreseen.  So  far  as 
their  author  was  concerned,  they  were  probably  only  a  candid 


ijackson  to  Monroe,  October  23,  November  12, 1816,  and  January  6, 1S17;  JacksonMss.  See,  also,  Parton 
Jackson,  II.,  357-368. 

2Jackson  to  Lewis,  December  28,  1826,  Jackson  Mss.  See  also  Bulletin  New  York  Public  Library  IV. 
3x2. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       341 

expression  of  his  opinion  in  regard  to  the  attitude  the  government 
ought  to  take  toward  the  moderate  federalists. 

The  first  use  of  these  letters  in  the  campaign  of  1824  was 
made  privately.  Lewis  in  1822  read  copies  of  them  to  Col. 
WiUiam  Polk,  of  Raleigh,  the  leading  federalist  in  North  Caro- 
lina. The  latter,  says  Lewis,  was  convinced  by  them  and 
thenceforth  worked  successfully  for  the  Tennesseean  in  North 
Carolina.'  So  far  as  we  may  judge  from  the  facts  which  appear 
on  the  surface,  the  Jackson  managers  were  satisfied  to  use  the 
correspondence  in  this  discreet  manner.  To  publish  it  was 
likely  to  displease  both  the  strict  party  repubhcans  and  the 
extreme  federahsts  of  New  England.  It  was  not,  therefore, 
through  their  efforts  or  consent  that  it  was  at  last  given  to  the 
public.  The  story  of  the  publication  shows  how  large  a  part 
intrigue  played  in  the  political  history  of  the  day. 

In  his  second  term  Monroe,  following  his  "amalgamation 
policy,"  nominated  Irish,  a  federalist,  as  a  marshal  in  Penn- 
sylvania. The  two  senators  from  that  state  were  republicans 
and  protested  to  Monroe  against  the  appointment.  He,  in 
justifying  himself,  read  them  Jackson's  letters  of  1816-1817 
and  within  a  short  time  repeated  the  argument  with  other 
republicans.  But  the  Pennsylvanians  were  not  convinced 
and  induced  the  senate  to  reject  Irish  by  a  vote  of  twenty-six 
to  fourteen,  the  majority  being  all  republicans. 

From  this  affair  the  public  first  knew  of  the  correspondence. 
Crawford's  supporters  dwelt  on  the  information,  pleased  to  have 
an  argument  to  show  that  Jackson  was  not  a  good  republican. 
For  a  time  the  attack  produced  consternation  in  western  Penn- 
sylvania, where  repubhcanism  was  a  tradition  with  the  Scotch- 
Irish.  The  Jackson  newspapers,  however,  nervously  denied  the 
existence  of  the  correspondence,  and  George  Kremer,  whose 
fame  rests  chiefly  on  his  participation  in  a  more  noted  squabble, 

'Parton,  Jackson,  III.,  IS- 


342  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

wrote  to  ask  Jackson  if  the  alleged  letters  were  really  written. 
Now  the  published  reports  had  distorted  the  contents  of  the 
correspondence,  and  the  general  was  literally  correct  when  he 
said  in  reply  that  he  did  not  write  what  was  attributed  to  him. 
Kremer  published  this  reply  and  said  that  he  had  talked,  also, 
with  Monroe,  who  confirmed  Jackson's  denial.  This  left  the 
Pennsylvania  senators  in  a  bad  position.  One  of  them  was  a 
supporter  of  Jackson  and  kept  quiet;  but  the  other,  Walter 
Lowrie,  a  Cravv^ford  man,  resented  the  imputation  against  his 
integrity  and  called  on  the  President  to  publish  the  correspond- 
ence which  was  read  to  him  and  his  colleague.  Monroe's 
relations  with  Jackson  were  already  strained  on  account  of 
the  Fromentin  affair  and  he  refused  to  take  a  step  which  would 
make  them  worse.  Lowrie  was  thus  left  in  an  awkward  posi- 
tion, but  relief  was  at  hand.  One  morning  he  received  an 
anonymous  letter  postmarked  "Richmond,"  which  contained 
a  copy  of  the  President's  reply  to  Jackson's  second  letter.  Part 
of  it  was  in  the  handwriting  of  Jackson,  who  declared  that  it 
was  stolen  from  his  papers,  and  part  in  that  of  Hay,  Monroe's 
son-in-law.  By  threatening  to  publish  the  letter  which  for- 
tune sent  him,  Lowrie  was  able  to  force  action  by  his  opponents. 
After  some  squirming  on  their  part,  Eaton,  acting  for  his  leader, 
published  the  whole  correspondence  in  May,  1824.  The  effect 
was  considerable,  though  not  as  decisive  as  was  anticipated. 
Some  republicans  were  alienated  and  many  federalists  were 
won.  But  these  results  were  not  permanent.  The  disappear- 
ance of  Crawford  after  1825  gave  most  of  his  followers  to  Jack- 
son; and  issues  were  such  in  1828  that  most  of  the  federalist 
accessions  of  1824  were  lost.  Some  of  the  Crawford  republicans 
in  process  of  transition  found  the  Monroe  correspondence  a 
stumbling-block;  but  Van  Buren,  their  principal  leader,  reas- 
sured them  saying  that  Jackson  was  once  a  good  republican 
and  "we  must  trust  to  good  fortune,  and  to  the  effects  of  favora- 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       343 

ble  associations  for  the  removal  of  the  rust  they  [his  principles] 
have  contracted  in  his  case,  by  a  protracted  non-user,  and  the 
prejudicial  ejffects  in  that  regard  of  his  military  life." ' 

Jackson's  allusion  to  the  Hartford  Convention  was  bitterly 
resented  in  New  England,  but  he  did  not  retract.  In  a  private 
letter  he  justified  himself  by  saying:  "It  is  true  that  I  wrote 
hastily  these  letters  to  Mr.  Monroe  to  which  you  refer,  and 
that  I  never  calculated  that  they  would  be  published,"  but 
they  had  not  done  as  much  harm  as  his  enemies  expected. 
As  to  the  Hartford  Convention,  his  utterances  were,  he  declared, 
well  founded.  The  papers  charged  the  leaders  with  treason  and 
a  military  commander  has  power  to  deal  with  treason;  where- 
fore, "if  there  is  no  mistake  about  the  powers  referred  to,  and 
if  there  had  been  none  in  the  public  prints,  when  they  charged 
the  Hartford  Convention  with  carrying  on  illicit  correspondence 
with  the  enemy  by  its  agents,  with  a  combination  to  disobey 
the  calls  of  the  President,  for  the  just  quotas  of  militia,  thereby 
paralyzing  the  arm  of  government,  and  aiding  and  assisting 
the  enemy  by  withdrawing  themselves  illegally  from  the  ranks 
of  their  country,  I  ask  if  the  conduct  as  charged  against  the 
members  of  the  Hartford  Convention  and  its  correspondence 
with  the  British  agents  (if  true)  did  not  bring  them  within  the 
purview  and  meaning  of  the  fifty-sixth  and  fifty-seventh  articles 
of  war  —  if  not  then  they  are  a  dead  letter  and  ought  to  be 
expunged  ...  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  if  I  had 
been  placed  in  command  in  that  country  by  the  orders  of  the 
President,  I  should  have  at  once  tried  the  strength  of  the  powers 
of  the  government  in  a  state  of  war,  whether  it  was  competent 
to  wield  its  physical  force  in  defence  of  our  country  by  punish- 
ing all  concerned  in  combinations  to  aid  the  enemy  and  para- 
lyze our  own  efforts.     In  this  case  if  my  judgment  had  been 

'Van  Buien,  Autobiography,  III.,  20-27,  Van  Buren  M.S&.  Bulletin  New  York  Public  Library,  1900,  194; 
Lowrie  to  Monroe,  March  is,  1824;  Jackson  to  Donelson,  January  16,  18  and  21,  1824,  to  Monroe,  April  9, 
Monroe   to  Jackson,  April  lo,  1824,  Jackson  Mss.     See  also  Jefferson,  Wrilings  (Ford  edition),  X.,  304. 


344  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

condemned,  all  good  men  would  have  at  least  commended  the 
motive." ' 

Jackson  took  his  seat  in  the  senate  December  5,  1823. 
He  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  on  military  affairs 
and  member  of  the  committee  on  foreign  relations.  He  resigned 
his  seat  two  years  later  after  the  legislature  nominated  him  for 
the  second  time  to  the  presidency.  His  duties  were  performed 
conscientiously,  and  for  a  new  member  who  had  no  talent  for 
speaking  he  was  fairly  prominent.  He  presented  the  business 
which  pertained  to  his  committee  with  brief  but  effective  speeches ; 
and  on  the  whole  his  career  was  satisfactory  to  those  who  made 
him  their  representative.' 

Internal  improvements  and  the  tariff  were  then  prominent 
political  questions,  and  each  was  before  the  senate  in  the  first 
session  he  attended.  Both  measures  were  popular  with  his 
friends  in  the  North,  particularly  in  Pennsylvania,  and  unpopu- 
lar with  most  of  his  Southern  supporters.  Plis  managers  feared 
that  his  outspoken  nature  would  be  unequal  to  so  delicate  a 
situation,  but  for  once  he  was  discreet.  He  voted  for  all  the 
road  bills  which  came  up  except  one  —  and  in  that  case  did  not 
vote  at  all  —  but  he  justified  himself  on  the  ground  of  military 
necessity.  On  Calhoun's  project  for  a  general  survey  of  roads 
and  canals  he  voted  steadily  with  the  majority  which,  rejecting 
all  amendments,  passed  the  bill  in  the  form  in  which  it  came 
from  the  house.' 

In  regard  to  the  tariff  of  1824  he  displayed  the  same  kind 
of  courage  and  decision.  The  bill  came  from  the  house,  stamped 
with  the  insignia  of  protection.  Amendment  after  amendment 
was  introduced  to  lower  the  schedules,  most  of  them  without 
success.  Of  the  attempts  to  reduce  the  duties  by  amendment 
in  the  committee  of  the  whole,  Jackson's  vote  was  for  the  pro- 

'Jackson  to  Lewis,  December  28,  1826,  Jackson  Mss. 
^Annals  of  i8th  Congress,  ist  session,  Volume  I.,  passim, 
*Ibid,  137,  296,  253-256,  570. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       345 

tectionists  twenty-two  times,  for  lower  rates  four  times,  for 
compromise  once,  and  in  three  cases  it  is  not  possible  to  deter- 
mine how  it  should  be  classified.'  His  one  vote  for  the  free 
list  had  reference  to  frying  pans.  In  far  the  majority  of  cases  he 
voted  with  Lowrie  and  Find] ay,  senators  from  the  staunch 
protectionist  state  of  Pennsylvania. 

At  this  time  it  was  generally  reported  that  Jackson  favored 
the  "protecting  duty  poHcy";  and  Dr.  L.  H.  Colman,  a 
Virginia  supporter  who  professed  opposite  views,  wrote  to  ask 
his  tariff  opinions.  The  reply,  which  became  famous,  was 
as  follows:' 

Sir:  I  have  had  the  honor  this  day  to  receive  your  letter 
of  the  2ist  instant,  and  with  candor  shall  reply  to  it.  My 
name  has  been  brought  before  the  nation  by  the  people  them- 
selves without  any  agency  of  mine:  for  I  wish  it  not  to  be  for- 
gotten that  I  have  never  solicited  office,  nor  when  called  upon 
by  the  constituted  authorities  have  ever  declined  —  where  I 
conceived  my  services  would  be  beneficial  to  my  country.  As 
my  name  has  been  brought  before  the  nation  for  the  first  office 
in  the  gift  of  the  people,  it  is  incumbent  on  me,  when  asked, 
frankly  to  declare  my  opinion  upon  any  political  or  national 
question  pending  before  and  about  which  the  country  feels  an 
interest. 

You  ask  me  my  opinion  on  the  Tariff.  I  answer,  that  I 
am  in  favor  of  a  judicious  examination  and  revision  of  it;  and 
so  far  as  the  Tariff  before  us  embraces  the  design  of  fostering, 
protecting,  and  preserving  within  ourselves  the  means  of  na- 
tional defense  and  independence,  particularly  in  a  state  of 
war,  I  would  advocate  it  and  support  it.  The  experience  of 
the  late  war  ought  to  teach  us  a  lesson;  and  one  never  to  be 
forgotten.  If  our  liberty  and  republican  form  of  government, 
procured  for  us  by  our  Revolutionary  fathers,  are  worth  the 
blood  and  treasure  at  which  they  were  obtained,  it  surely  is 

'Annals  of  i8th  Congress,  ist  session,  Volume,  I.,  583-738,  passim. 
'Jackson  to  Dr.  Colman,  April  26,  1824,  Parton,  Jackson,  III.,  35. 


346  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

our  duty  to  protect  and  defend  them.  Can  there  be  an  Ameri- 
can patriot,  who  saw  the  privations,  dangers,  and  difficulties 
experienced  for  the  want  of  a  proper  means  of  defense  during 
the  last  war,  who  would  be  willing  again  to  hazard  the  safety 
of  our  country  if  embroiled;  or  rest  it  for  defense  on  the  pre- 
carious means  of  national  resources  to  be  derived  from  commerce, 
in  a  state  of  war  with  a  maritime  power  which  might  destroy 
that  commerce  to  prevent  our  obtaining  the  means  of  defense, 
and  thereby  subdue  us?  I  hope  there  is  not;  and  if  there  is, 
I  am  sure  he  does  not  deserve  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  freedom. 

Heaven  smiled  upon,  and  gave  us  liberty  and  independence. 
That  same  Providence  has  blessed  us  with  the  means  of  national 
independence  and  national  defense.  If  we  omit  or  refuse  to 
use  the  gifts  which  He  has  extended  to  us,  we  deserve  not  the  con- 
tinuation of  His  blessings.  He  has  filled  our  mountains  and  our 
plains  with  minerals  —  with  lead,  iron,  and  copper,  and  given 
us  a  climate  and  a  soil  for  the  growing  of  hemp  and  wool.  These 
being  the  grand  materials  of  our  national  defense,  they  ought 
to  have  extended  to  them  adequate  and  fair  protection,  that  our 
own  manufactories  and  laborers  may  be  placed  on  a  fair  compe- 
tition with  those  of  Europe ;  and  that  we  may  have  within  our  own 
country  a  supply  of  those  leading  and  important  articles  so 
essential  to  war.  Beyond  this,  I  look  at  the  Tariff  with  an  eye 
to  the  proper  distribution  of  labor  and  revenue;  and  with  a 
view  to  discharge  our  national  debt.  I  am  one  of  those  who  do 
not  believe  that  a  national  debt  is  a  national  blessing,  but  rather 
a  curse  to  a  republic ;  inasmuch  as  it  is  calculated  to  raise  around 
the  administration  a  moneyed  aristocracy  dangerous  to  the 
liberties  of   the  country. 

This  Tariff  —  I  mean  a  judicious  one  —  possesses  more 
fanciful  than  real  dangers.  I  will  ask  what  is  the  real  situation 
of  the  agriculturalist?  Where  has  the  American  farmer  a 
market  for  his  surplus  products?  Except  for  cotton  he  has  neither 
a  foreign  nor  a  home  market.  Does  not  this  clearly  prove, 
when  there  is  no  market  either  at  home  or  abroad,  that  there 
is  too  much  labor  employed  in  agriculture?  and  that  the  channels 
of  labor  should  be  multiplied?  Common  sense  points  out  at 
once  the  remedy.     Draw  from  agriculture  the  superabundant 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       347 

labor,  employ  it  in  mechanism  and  manufactures,  thereby 
creating  a  home  market  for  your  breadstuffs,  and  distributing 
labor  to  a  most  profitable  account,  and  benefits  to  the  country 
will  result.  Take  from  agriculture  in  the  United  States  six 
hundred  thousand  men,  women,  and  children,  and  you  at  once 
give  a  home  market  for  more  breadstuffs  than  all  Europe  now 
furnishes  us.  In  short,  sir,  we  have  been  too  long  subject  to 
the  policy  of  the  British  merchants.  It  is  time  we  should  be- 
come a  little  more  Americanized,  and  instead  of  feeding  the 
paupers  and  laborers  of  Europe,  feed  our  own,  or  else  in  a  short 
time,  by  continuing  our  present  policy,  we  shall  all  be  paupers 
ourselves. 

It  is,  therefore,  my  opinion  that  a  careful  Tariff  is  much 
wanted  to  pay  our  national  debt,  and  afford  us  a  means  of  that 
defense  within  ourselves  on  which  the  safety  and  liberty  of 
our  country  depend;  and  last,  though  not  least,  to  our  labor, 
which  must  prove  beneficial  to  the  happiness,  independence, 
and  wealth  of  the  community. 

This  is  a  short  outline  of  my  opinions,  generally,  on  the 
subject  of  your  inquiry,  and  believing  them  correct  and  calcu- 
lated to  further  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  my  country, 
I  declare  to  you  I  would  not  barter  them  for  any  office  or  situa- 
tion of  temporal  character  that  could  be  given  me.  I  have 
presented  you  my  opinions  freely,  because  I  am  without  con- 
cealment, and  should  indeed  despise  myself  if  I  could  believe 
myself  capable  of  acquiring  the  confidence  of  any  by  means  so 
ignoble. 

This  letter,  so  characteristic  of  Jackson's  mind,  was  well 
adapted  to  his  object.  The  military  argument  appealed  to  all 
voters,  and  the  home  market  theory  pleased  the  buoyant  West. 
It  did  not  convince  the  planters  of  the  South  and  the  theoretical 
free  traders  elsewhere,  but  these  were  either  hopelessly  attached 
to  Crawford  or  safely  led  into  the  fold  through  their  devotion 
to  Calhoun.  Moreover,  Jackson  believed  in  what  he  wrote; 
his  entire  honesty  will  relieve  from  the  imputation  of  self-con- 
ceit the  flambovant  sentiment  with  which  he  closed  the  letter. 


348  THE  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

The  reference  to  the  moneyed  aristocracy  was  at  once  an  echo 
of  1798  and  a  prophecy  of  1832. 

When  the  letter  was  published  the  expression,  "judicious 
tariff"  caught  the  eye  of  the  public.  It  strengthened  the  im- 
pression, already  created  by  the  letters  to  Monroe,  that  the 
author  was  not  a  man  of  extreme  views.  Clay  perceived  the 
force  of  the  utterance  and  when  he  heard  of  it  shrugged  his 
shoulders  and  exclaimed,  "Well,  by — ,  I  am  in  favor  of  an 
injudicious  tariff!'" 

Jackson's  dilemma  during  the  discussion  of  the  tariff  bill 
is  illustrated  by  the  following  story  in  Van  Buren's  unpublished 
autobiography.  A  proposition  to  impose  a  duty  of  four  and  a 
half  cents  a  yard  on  cotton  bagging,  the  chief  factory  of  which 
was  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  was  opposed  strongly  by  the  supporters 
of  Crawford  and  Calhoun.  Jackson's  Southern  friends  fre- 
quently called  him  into  the  side  aisles  to  urge  him  to  vote  for 
a  motion  by  Macon  to  strike  out  the  proposed  duty.  Although 
opposed  to  the  particular  duty,  he  favored  the  bill  and  feared 
that  to  amend  it  in  one  clause  would  lead  to  general  revision. 
Van  Buren's  seat  was  on  the  side  aisle,  and  he  necessarily  heard 
these  repeated  consultations.  When  Macon's  amendment  was 
put,  both  Tennessee  senators  voted  "nay,"  and  it  was  defeated 
by  a  vote  of  twenty-two  to  twenty-three.  Suddenly  realizing 
that  his  vote,  if  cast  in  the  affirmative,  would  secure  an  opposite 
result,  Jackson  turned  to  Van  Buren  and  exclaimed,  "You 
give  way,  sir!"  The  New  Yorker  refused,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
his  interlocutor,  realizing  the  impropriety  of  his  demand,  re- 
turned with  an  apology.  But  some  of  his  supporters  declared 
that  Van  Buren's  vote  was  a  trick  to  make  Southerners  think 
that  Jackson  had  defeated  the  amendment,  an  imputation  which 
was  stoutly  denied  by  the  crafty  little  Northerner,  whose  own 
friends  were  disposed  to  boast  of  it  as  a  mark  of  their  leader's 

'Van  Buren,  Autobiography,!.,  29,  Van  Burea  Mss. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1824       349 

sagacity.  All  this  happened  when  the  tariff  bill  of  1824  was 
before  the  committee  of  the  whole;  when  it  came  before  the 
senate,  Jackson  and  Holmes,  of  Maine,  changed  their  votes  on 
the  same  amendment  and  the  duty  on  cotton  bagging  was 
stricken  out/ 

In  September,  1823,  Crawford  was  stricken  with  paralysis 
and  for  a  year  his  condition  v/as  precarious.  If  he  should  die 
who  would  get  his  "old  republican"  support?  Would  it  be 
Clay,  the  opponent  of  the  administration  and  champion  of  a 
protective  tariff?  or  Adams,  whose  New  England  reserve  aroused 
no  enthusiasm  in  the  South?  or  Jackson,  supporter  of  the  ad- 
ministration, milder  than  Clay  on  the  tariff  question,  and  long 
a  friend  of  Monroe,  but  a  relentless  enemy  of  Crawford?  The 
situation  was  interesting,  and  perplexing.  Crawford's  friends 
asserted, — as  it  turned  out,  truthfully—  that  their  leader  would 
not  die,  they  minimized  the  seriousness  of  his  illness,  and  when, 
two  months  before  Election  Day,  he  began  to  mend,  their  spirits 
and  their  confidence  returned. 

But  his  improvement  did  not  make  his  election  more  probable. 
It  only  made  it  more  certain  that  neither  of  the  four  candidates 
would  have  a  majority  of  the  electoral  college,  and  that  the 
ultimate  choice  would  fall  in  the  house  of  representatives, 
where  the  state  delegations  voting  each  as  a  unit  select  for 
President  one  of  the  three  highest  in  the  electoral  college.  Who 
would  be  the  three  fortunate  ones?  The  slow-coming  election 
returns  at  last  answered  the  question.  Jackson  had  ninety- 
nine  electoral  votes,  Adams  eighty-four,  Crawford  forty-one, 
and  Clay  thirty-seven.  Calhoun  was  safely  elected  vice-presi- 
dent, but  the  contest  for  the  presidency  entered  a  second  and 
more  exciting  stage. 

>Van  Buren,  A  utobiography ,  1, 29,  Van  Buien  Mss.;  Annals  of  i8th  Congress,  ist  session,  Volume  I.,  708,  73,; 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

ELECTION  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 

Or  THE  three  candidates  whose  names  now  went  before  the 
house  of  representatives  Crawford  was  eliminated  by  the 
state  of  his  health.  He  barely  held  the  states  committed  to 
him  by  undeviating  loyalty  and  could  not  expect  to  draw  from 
either  of  the  other  candidates.  Of  the  other  two,  Adams,  pa- 
triotic and  fearless,  was  an  educated  man,  long  experienced  in 
political  affairs,  and  in  sympathy  with  the  best  traditions  of 
statesmanship.  Jackson,  equally  patriotic  and  honest,  was 
uneducated,  inexperienced  in  national  politics,  and  lacking  in 
judgment  and  self-control.  An  intelligent  man  actuated  solely 
by  love  of  country  might  well  prefer  the  former. 

But  the  choice  was  not  to  be  made  under  such  happy  con- 
ditions. Each  candidate  had  a  group  of  managers  who  worked 
in  his  behalf,  and  who,  at  the  same  time,  had  eyes  on  their  own 
proper  advancement.  They  were  practical  politicians  and 
planned  to  get  votes  for  their  leaders  by  any  reasonable  means. 
Flattery,  promises  of  future  support,  and  threats  of  future  op- 
position were  their  ordinary  arguments.  The  candidates  them- 
selves cannot  be  charged  with  participation  in  this  process  of 
manipulation.  They  must  have  known  the  game  too  well  to 
take  open  part  in  it;  but  it  is  inconceivable  that  they  were 
ignorant  of  what  transpired. 

There  were  then  twenty-four  states  in  the  union,  and  in  the 
house,  the  winning  candidate  must  control  the  delegations  of 
thirteen  of  them.  Clay,  long  speaker  and  leader  of  a  devoted 
group  of  representatives,  could  influence  enough  delegations  to 

350 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    351 

determine  the  result.  He  and  his  followers  at  once  became 
objects  of  solicitude  to  all  the  other  parties.  His  own  letter 
cleverly  describes  the  situation: 


I  am  sometimes  touched  gently  on  the  shoulder  by  a  friend, 
for  example,  of  General  Jackson,  who  will  thus  address  me: 
"My  dear  sir,  all  my  dependence  is  upon  you;  don't  disappoint 
us,  you  know  our  partiality  was  for  you  next  to  the  hero,  and 
how  much  we  want  a  Western  President."  Immediately  after, 
a  friend  of  Mr.  Crawford  will  accost  me:  "The  hopes  of  the  Re- 
publican party  are  concentrated  on  you;  for  God's  sake  pre- 
serve it.  If  you  had  been  returned  instead  of  Mr.  Crawford, 
every  man  of  us  would  have  supported  you  to  the  last  hour.  We 
consider  him  and  you  as  the  only  genuinely  Republican  candi- 
dates." Next  a  friend  of  Mr.  Adams  comes  with  tears  in  his 
eyes:*  "Sir,  Mr.  Adams  has  always  had  the  greatest  respect  for 
you,  and  admiration  of  your  talents.  There  is  no  station  to 
which  you  are  not  equal.  Most  undoubtedly,  you  are  the 
second  choice  of  New  England,  and  I  pray  you  to  consider  seri- 
ously whether  the  public  good  and  your  own  future  interests 
do  not  point  most  distinctly  to  the  choice  which  ought  to  be 
made?"  How  can  one  withstand  all  this  disinterested  homage 
and  kindness?' 


Politics,  indeed,  make  strange  bed-fellows,  and  the  strenuous 
Jackson  was  not  exempt  from  the  application  of  the  rule.  The 
preceding  year,  he  made  friends  with  Thomas  Hart  Benton, 
whose  views  and  temperament  made  him  a  Jackson  follower, 
and  who  was  as  much  interested  in  the  reconciliation  as  the 
Tennesseean.  Benton,  formerly  for  Clay,  was  now  won  over 
and  labored  hard  to  carry  the  Missouri  representative  for  Jack- 
son. Another  scheme  was  to  bring  Jackson  and  Crawford 
/together.  The  health  of  the  latter  prevented  an  open  meeting, 
;'  but  the  men  were  induced  to  say  pleasant  things  about  each 

•There  is  an  allusion  here  to  Adams's  watering  eyes. 
'Colton,  Private  Correspondence  of  Clay,  log. 


352  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

other  and  Mrs.  Crawford  called  on  Mrs.  Jackson,  from 
which  political  lieutenants  deduced  the  most  reassuring 
conclusions.' 

In  the  winter  of  1824-5,  friends  undertook  the  greater  task 
of  establishing  cordial  relations  between  the  general  and  the 
President-maker.  Clay  and  Jackson  were  brought  together  at 
a  dinner,  from  which  the  former  drove  home  in  the  carriage  of 
the  latter;  then  each  gave  a  dinner  to  the  other,  and  afterward 
they  met  with  appearances  of  good  will.  The  advances  came 
from  Jackson's  side,  but  it  is  not  known  how  much  he  and  how 
much  his  managers  were  responsible  for  them.  He  seems  to 
have  believed  in  the  genuine  good  will  of  his  rival,  and  was  no 
doubt  in  a  position  to  offer  him  a  place  in  the  cabinet  if  the  elec- 
tion resulted  favorably.  While  Clay  had  opposed  Adams's 
policies  during  Monroe's  administration,  he  had  declared  that 
Jackson  was  personally  unfit  for  the  presidency.  He  must, 
therefore,  have  found  it  more  difficult  to  come  around  to  the 
latter  than  to  the  former. 

But  Clay's  mind  was  made  up  early  in  the  contest,  certainly 
before  the  middle  of  December.  January  8th,  he  announced 
to'  his  intimates  that  he  would  go  for  Adams.  He  might  have 
justified  himself  on  the  ground  of  the  superior  fitness  of  Adams; 
but  he  chose  the  less  defensible  position  that  he  would  save  the 
country  from  the  "dangerous  precedent  of  elevating,  in  this 
early  stage  of  the  Republic,  a  military  chieftain,  merely  because 
he  has  won  a  great  victory. "  "  As  a  friend  of  liberty, "  he  writes 
to  Brooke  with  an  eye  to  publication,  "and  to  the  permanence 
of  our  institutions,  I  cannot  consent  in  this  early  stage  of  their 
existence,  by  contributing  to  the  election  of  a  military  chieftain, 
to  give  the  strongest  guaranty  that  the  Republic  will  march  in 
the  fatal  road,  which  has  conducted  every  republic  to  ruin." 


•John  Branch  to  Colonel  William  Polk,  January  25, 1825;  Mss.  in  possession  of  William  H.  Hoyt,  New  York 
City. 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    353 

*'My  friends,"  he  says  in  another  letter,  "entertain  the  belief 
that  their  kind  wishes  toward  me  will  in  the  end  be  more  likely 
to  be  accomplished  by  so  bestowing  their  votes  [i.  e.,  on  Adams]. 
I  have,  however,  most  earnestly  entreated  them  to  throw  me 
out  of  their  consideration  in  bringing  their  judgments  to  a  final 
conclusion,  and  to  look  and  be  guided  solely  by  the  public  good.'" 

Clay's  fine  self-denial  need  not  detain  us  long.  He  was  a 
practical  politician  and  as  keen  in  his  own  interests  as  his  lieu- 
tenants. He  knew  his  advantages  from  the  election  of  Adams. 
The  New  Englander  was  not  likely  to  become  a  permanent 
party  leader.  He  had  little  strength  outside  of  New  England, 
and  the  more  popular  Clay  might  fairly  hope  that  a  union  with 
him  would  lead  to  the  succession.  The  growing  popularity 
of  the  tariff.  Clay's  pet  measure,  in  the  region  normally  for 
Adams,  gave  additional  reason  for  such  an  alliance,  and  to  it 
may  be  added  the  Kentuckian's  feeling  for  the  capable  classes 
as  against  the  revived  doctrines  of  popular  government  for  which 
Jackson  stood.  On  the  other  hand,  cooperation  with  Jackson 
was  difficult ;  for  both  were  Western  men  and  neither  was  willing 
to  take  a  subordinate  position  in  a  combination.  Moreover, 
Calhoun  was  already  in  coalition  with  Jackson  and  it  was  gen- 
erally admitted  that  he  was  to  be  heir  apparent  to  that  leader. 
These  and  other  practical  considerations,  which  were  well  known 
to  his  supporters  and  which  seem  clear  to  the  historian,  must 
have  been  thorouglily  understood  by  Clay  when  he  made  up 
his  mind  that  the  interests  of  the  country  demanded  the  election 
of  Adams. 

Clay  did  not  avow  his  intentions  until  shortly  before  Feb- 
ruary 9th,  the  date  set  for  the  vote  in  the  house  of  representa- 
tives. In  the  meantime  there  was  much  discussion,  each  side 
thinking  it  had  a  chance,'  and  in  it,  Jackson's  followers  advanced 

>Colton,  Private  Correspondence  of  Clay,  no,  in,  112. 

'January  7,  Macon  thought  Jackson's  prospect  the  best  and  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  was  uncertain  on  January 
15.  See  Shipp,  Life  of  Crawford,  ijg. 


354  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

the  claim  that  he  was  entitled  to  be  considered  the  people's  fa- 
vorite, because  he  had  the  largest  number  of  electoral  votes  and 
because  he  probably  received  the  largest  popular  vote;  but 
there  is  little  certainty  about  the  latter  statement,  since  six 
states  chose  electors  by  legislatures,  and  in  those  states  it  was 
impossible  to  estimate  the  popular  vote.  Jackson's  advocates 
made  much  of  the  argument.  They  went  so  far  as  to  say  that 
the  will  of  the  people  would  be  defeated  if  their  candidate  was 
set  aside,  and  this,  they  said,  was  in  spirit,  if  not  in  fact,  a  vio- 
lation of  the  constitution,  which  intended  that  the  people  should 
choose  the  President.  The  argument  was  weak;  the  constitution 
did  not  provide  for  elections  by  the  people,  and  it  was  clear  that 
if  the  majority  of  the  people  had  wanted  Jackson  above  the  other 
candidates,  they  would  have  expressed  themselves  accordingly 
in  the  choice  of  electors.  But  the  contention  was  popularly 
plausible.  It  had  no  influence  on  the  politicians  in  Washington, 
and  its  advocates  probably  expected  as  much,  but  it  impressed 
the  people  at  large,  with  whom  the  hero  of  New  Orleans  was  in- 
creasingly influential.  It  served  to  support  the  feeling,  skilfully 
stimulated  by  the  supporters  of  the  friend  of  the  masses,  that  the 
corrupt  manipulators  of  affairs  at  the  centre  of  government  no 
longer  cared  for  the  will  or  the  interests  of  the  people.  The 
votes  finally  given  by  the  states  of  Illinois  and  Missouri  give 
some  color  of  truth  to  the  charge. 

Jackson  watched  these  affairs  from  his  seat  in  the  senate  with 
silent  interest.  Easily  suspicious  of  his  opponents  and  confiding 
in  his  friends,  he  saw  no  other  intrigues  than  those  directed 
against  him.  W^hat  he  observed  filled  him  with  horror.  "I 
would  rather,"  he  exclaimed,  "remain  a  plain  cultivator  of  the 
soil  as  I  am,  than  to  occupy  that  which  is  truly  the  first  office 
in  the  world,  if  the  voice  of  the  nation  was  against  it. "  *    He  was 


'Jackson  to  S.  Swartwout,  December  14,  1824,  Jackson  Mss. 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    355 

ihen  living  with  Mrs.  Jackson  at  the  same  hotel  at  which  La- 
fayette, on  his  famous  visit  to  America,  was  living,  and  he  found 
much  to  interest  him  in  the  company  of  the  revolutionary  hero. 
There  is  evidence,  too,  that  his  strength  of  character  made  a 
strong  impression  on  the  Frenchman.  His  position  made  him 
a  man  of  note,  but,  through  natural  qualities,  he  was  distin- 
guished. His  bearing  was  good,  he  avoided  complicity  in  the 
intrigues  of  the  day,  he  asserted  with  an  earnestness  which  carried 
conviction  the  loftiest  political  ideals,  and  he  practised  with  all 
sincerity  the  simpler  duties  of  private  life.  His  shortcomings 
of  inexperience  and  bad  temper  did  not  appear  to  the  casual 
observer,  and  his  outspoken  frankness  gave  him  apparent  ad- 
vantage over  the  busy  politicians  around  him. 

Much  has  been  said  about  Mrs.  Jackson's  social  capacity,  and 
her  appearance  in  Washington  aroused  great  interest.  The 
following  naive  extract  from  the  letter  of  a  Jackson  man  shows 
what  impression  she  made: 

The  visit  of  Mrs.  Jackson  to  this  place  has  given  a  damper 
to  those  who  have  used  her  as  an  argument  against  him  (Jackson) . 
She  has  proven  the  falsity  of  the  thousand  slanders,  which  have 
been  industriously  circulated  of  her  awkwardness,  ignorance 
and  indecorum.  I  have  been  made  acquainted  with  her  and 
find  her  striking  characteristics  to  be,  an  unaffected  simplicity 
of  manners,  with  great  goodness  of  heart.  So  far  from  being 
denied  the  attentions  usually  extended  to  strangers,  as  was  pre- 
dicted, she  has  been  overpowered  by  the  civilities  of  all  parties. 
Policy  makes  it  necessary  that  they  should  thus  demean  them- 
selves toward  her  for  they  will  not  be  forgotten  by  her  husband, 
who  deny  her  the  rights  of  a  stranger.  The  old  General's 
health  is  very  delicate,  owing  to  which,  he  seldom  goes  into 
company  of  an  evening.  At  General  Brown's  he  was  on  the 
night  of  the  "8th  January"  and  received  more  court  than 
aU  the  company  beside.  Several  buildings  were  illuminated 
in  the  neighborhood  of  his  lodgings  and  an  artillery  company 


356  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

at   night  turned   out    and    fired    him  a    salute    over    a    con- 
flagration of  tar  barrels.' 

Among  those  men  who  actively  tried  to  elect  General  Jackson, 
was  George  Kremer,  of  Pennsylvania,  destined  to  play  a  con- 
spicuous part  in  the  intrigues  of  the  day.  He  was  a  man  of  the 
people,  who  had  won  the  confidence  of  his  constituents  by  his 
outspoken  denunciations  of  his  opponents,  an  extreme  product 
of  the  new  movement.  He  was  a  man  of  originality  and 
boldness,  and  in  spite  of  poor  educational  advantages  and 
peculiarities  of  manner,  he  won  influence  in  his  party.  But 
circumstances  were  about  to  thrust  him  into  an  adventure  for 
which  neither  his  physical  nor  moral  courage  was  adequate. 

Kremer  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Jackson  and  suspicious 
and  credulous  enough  to  take  seriously  the  charges  of  corruption 
which  were  uttered  by  his  party  against  their  opponents.  Early 
in  January,  James  Buchanan,  also  of  Pennsylvania,  told  Kremer 
in  apparent  alarm,  if  we  may  accept  Kremer's  story,  that  as  a 
friend  of  Clay,  he  knew  a  great  intrigue  was  in  progress  about 
which  he  thought  Jackson  ought  to  be  informed,  and  that  if  he 
was  as  good  a  friend  of  Jackson  as  Kremer,  he  would  inform  him. 
The  plot,  he  said,  was  that  Adams's  friends  were  proposing  to 
Clay's  supporters  to  get  the  secretaryship  of  state  for  Clay  if  he 
would  use  his  influence  for  the  Eastern  candidate.  Buchanan 
said  Jackson  was  in  great  danger  unless  he  would  make  the  same 
offer  to  Clay,  since  the  Adams  men  proclaimed  that  Jackson, 
if  successful,  would  surely  keep  Adams  secretary  of  state. 
Buchanan,  therefore,  suggested  that  the  Tennesseean  at  least 
authorize  the  assurance  that  he,  as  President,  would  not  continue 
the  present  incumbent.  To  this  proposition,  Kremer  says  he 
returned  the  answer  that  his  candidate  would  make  no  promises 
and  if  elected,  it  must  be  by  principle.      His  statement  was 

'John  S.  Ellis,  January  ii,  1825,  Mss.  in  possession  of  Williain  H.  Hoyt,  of  New  York  City. 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    357 

embodied  in  a  letter  to  Jackson,  and  to  it  he  appended  the  follow- 
ing postscript:  "  Mr.  Buchanan  stated  that  him  and  Mr.  Clay  have 
become  great  friends  this  winter,  this  he  said  as  I  thought  to 
inform  on  my  mind  the  authority  from  whence  he  had  derived 
his  information. "  ' 

So  far  Mr.  Kremer,  When  the  matter  became  public  contro- 
versy, Buchanan  was  appealed  to,  and  made  the  following 
statement : 

On  the  30th  of  December,  1824  (T  am  able  to  fix  the  time, 
not  only  from  my  own  recollection,  but  from  letters  which  I 
wrote  on  that  day,  on  the  day  following,  and  on  the  2nd  of 
January,  1825),  I  called  upon  General  Jackson.  After  the  com- 
pany had  left  him,  by  which  I  found  him  surrounded,  he  asked 
me  to  take  a  walk  with  him;  and,  while  we  were  walking  together 
upon  the  street,  I  introduced  the  subject.  I  told  him  I  wished 
to  ask  him  a  question  in  relation  to  the  Presidential  election; 
that  I  knew  he  was  unwilling  to  converse  upon  the  subject;  that, 
therefore,  if  he  deemed  the  question  improper,  he  might  refuse 
to  give  it  an  answer:  that  my  only  motive  in  asking  it,  was 
friendship  for  him,  and  I  trusted  he  would  excuse  me  for  thus 
introducing  a  subject  about  which  I  knew  he  wished  to  be  silent. 
His  reply  was  complimentary  to  myself,  and  accompanied  with  a 
request  that  I  would  proceed.  I  then  stated  to  him  there  was  a 
report  in  circulation,  that  he  had  determined  he  would  appoint 
Mr.  Adams  Secretary  of  State,  in  case  he  were  elected  President, 
and  that  I  wished  to  ascertain  from  him  whether  he  had  ever  in- 
timated such  an  intention ;  that  he  must  at  once  perceive  how  in- 
jurious to  his  election  such  a  report  might  be;  that  no  doubt  there 
were  several  able  and  ambitious  men  in  the  country,  among 
whom,  I  thought  Mr.  Clay  might  be  included,  who  were  aspiring 
to  that  office;  and,  if  it  were  believed  he  had  already  determined 
to  appoint  his  chief  competitor,  it  might  have  a  most  unhappy 
effect  upon  their  exertions,  and  those  of  their  friends;  that,  unless 
he  had  so  determined,  I  thought  this  report  should  be  promptly 
contradicted  under  his   own  authority.     .     .     .     After  I  had 


'Kremer  to  Jackson,  March  6,  1825,  Jackson  Mss. 


3S8  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

finished  the  General  declared  he  had  not  the  least  objection  to 
answer  my  question;  that  he  thought  well  of  Mr.  Adams,  but  he 
never  said  or  intimated  that  he  would,  or  would  not,  appoint 
him  Secretary  of  State;  that  these  were  secrets  he  would  keep 
to  himself — he  would  conceal  them  from  the  very  hairs  of  his 
head.' 

Years  later,  Jackson  declared  that  Buchanan  did  not  do  him 
full  justice  and  repeated  the  charge,  which  is  clear  in  Kremer's 
letter,  that  Buchanan  said  it  was  necessary  to  fight  Adams's 
supporters  with  their  own  weapons,  that  is,  to  make  an  offer  to 
Clay.  On  the  face  of  the  matter,  it  seems  that  Buchanan  did 
seek  to  get  from  Jackson  a  statement  which  he  could  use  with 
the  Clay  men,  and  that  having  failed  in  his  purpose,  he  sought 
a  few  days  later  to  induce  Kremer  to  move  Jackson  to  the  same 
purpose.  How  much  he  had  in  heart  a  bargain  with  Clay  is 
seen  by  a  statement  of  the  latter  in  his  old  age.  Buchanan,  he 
said,  called  at  his  lodgings  where  the  two  were  together  in  the 
presence  of  Letcher,  of  Kentucky.  Clay,  speaking  of  himself 
in  the  third  person,  tells  us  what  happened: 

Shortly  after  Mr.  Buchanan's  entry  into  the  room,  he  in- 
troduced the  subject  of  the  approaching  Presidential  election, 
and  spoke  of  the  certainty  of  the  election  of  his  favorite  (Jackson), 
adding  that  "he  would  form  the  most  splendid  cabinet  that  the 
country  had  ever  had."  Mr.  Letcher  asked,  "How  could  he  have 
one  more  distinguished  than  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  which 
were  both  Madison  and  Gallatin?  Where  would  he  be  able  to 
find  equally  eminent  men?"  Mr.  Buchanan  replied  that  he 
"would  not  go  out  of  this  room  for  a  Secretary  of  State,"  looking 
at  Mr.  Clay.  This  gentleman  plajrfuUy  remarked  that  "he 
thought  there  was  no  timber  there  fit  for  a  cabinet  officer,  un- 
less it  was  Mr.  Buchanan  himself."  Mr.  Clay,  while  he  was  so 
hotly  assailed  with  the  charge  of  bargain,  intrigue,  and  corruption, 

'Buchanan  to  the  Editor  of  the  Lancaster  (Pennsylvania)  Journal.     See  Buchanan's  Writines  (Moore, 
Editor),  I.,  863-7;  also  Parton,  Jackson,  111.,  114. 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    359 

during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams,  notified  Mr.  Buchanan 
of  his  intention  to  publish  the  above  occurrence;  but,  by  the 
earnest  entreaties  of  that  gentleman,  he  was  induced  to 
forbear  doing  so/ 

None  of  this  evidence  shows  that  either  Jackson,  Clay,  or 
Adams  was  bargaining  for  the  presidency.  But  it  made  it  pretty 
certain  that  Mr.  Buchanan  had  his  dreams,  and  that  his  at- 
tempt to  realize  them  was  clumsily  made. 

Clay's  intention  to  support  Adams  was  known  to  intimate 
friends  by  the  middle  of  December,'  and  a  rumor  to  that  effect 
was  abroad.  The  Jackson  party  discounted  it  at  first,  but  as 
February  9th,  the  day  of  the  final  choice,  approached,  they  began 
to  realize  its  truth.  They  now  became  very  bitter  toward 
Clay,  partly  desiring,  as  it  seems,  to  shake  some  of  his  support 
out  of  his  hands  and  partly  to  take  vengeance  on  him  for  his 
opposition.  For  some  days  the  air  was  full  of  charges,  and  on 
January  28,  1825,  appeared  in  the  Columbian  Observer,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, an  unsigned  letter,  in  which  was  the  following  in- 
dictment: 

For  some  time  past,  the  friends  of  Clay  have  hinted  that 
they,  like  the  Swiss,  would  fight  for  those  who  pay  best.  Over- 
tures were  said  to  have  been  made  by  the  friends  of  Adams  to 
the  friends  of  Clay,  offering  him  the  appointment  of  Secretary 
of  State,  for  his  aid  to  elect  Adams.  And  the  friends  of  Clay  gave 
the  information  to  the  friends  of  Jackson,  and  hinted  that  if  the 
friends  of  Jackson  would  offer  the  same  price,  they  would  close 
with  them.  But  none  of  the  friends  of  Jackson  would  descend 
to  such  mean  barter  and  sale.  It  was  not  believed  by  any  of 
the  friends  of  Jackson  that  this  contract  would  be  ratified  by 
the  members  from  the  States  which  had  voted  for  Clay.  I  was 
of  opinion,  when  I  first  heard  of  this  transaction,  that  men,  pro- 
fessing any  honorable  principles,  could  not,  or  would  not  be 

'Colton,  Life  of  Clay,  I.,  418. 
•Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  I.,  48. 


36o  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

transferred,  like  the  planter  does  his  negroes,  or  the  farmer  does 
his  team  of  horses.  No  alarm  was  excited.  We  believed  the 
republic  was  safe.  The  nation  having  deHvered  Jackson  into 
the  hands  of  Congress,  backed  by  a  large  majority  of  their  votes, 
there  was  on  my  mind  no  doubt  that  Congress  would  respond 
to  the  wall  of  the  nation  by  electing  the  individual  they  had  de- 
clared to  be  their  choice.  Contrary  to  this  expectation,  it  is 
now  ascertained  to  a  certainty  that  Henry  Clay  has  transferred 
his  interest  to  John  Quincy  Adams.  As  a  consideration  for 
this  abandonment  of  duty  to  his  constituents,  it  is  said  and  be- 
lieved, should  this  unholy  coalition  prevail,  Clay  is  to  be  ap- 
pointed Secretary  of  State. 

This  charge  ought  not  to  have  surprised  an  experienced  poli- 
tician, but  the  language  in  which  it  was  made,  was  calculated  to 
annoy.  It  is  easy  to  explain  it  as  the  vaporing  of  an  uncouth 
popular  leader;  but  how  can  we  excuse  the  violence  of  Clay's 
reply,  February  ist,  in  the  National  Intelligencer}    Rewrote: 

The  editor  of  one  of  those  prints,  ushered  forth  in  Phila- 
delphia, called  the  Columbian  Observer,  for  which  I  do  not 
subscribe,  and  which  I  have  never  ordered,  has  had  the 
impudence  to  transmit  to  me  his  vile  paper  of  the  28th  instant. 
In  this  number  is  inserted  a  letter  purporting  to  have  been  written 
from  this  city,  on  the  25th  instant,  by  a  member  of  the  house  of 
representatives,  belonging  to  the  Pennsylvania  delegation.  I 
believe  it  to  be  a  forgery;  but  if  it  be  genuine,  I  pronounce  the 
member,  whoever  he  may  be,  a  base  and  infamous  calumniator, 
a  dastard  and  liar;  and  if  he  dare  unveil  himself,  and  avow  his 
name,  I  will  hold  him  responsible,  as  I  here  admit  myself  to  be, 
to  all  the  laws  which  govern  and  regulate  men  of  honor.' 

Two  days  later  Kremer  in  the  same  newspaper  tendered  his 
respects  to  the  Honorable  Henry  Clay,  acknowledged  the  author- 
ship of  the  letter  in  the  Columbian  Observer,  offered  to  prove  its 
truth,  and,   saying   nothing   about  the  laws  of  honor,  planted 

'Colton,  Lije  of  Clay,  I.,  2Q7. 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    361 

himself  behind  the  bulwark  of  public  duty,  proclaiming  that  as  a 
representative  of  the  people  he  would  "not  fear  to  'cry  aloud  and 
spare  not,'  when  their  rights  and  privileges  are  at  stake. "  Clay 
could  hardly  insist  on  a  duel  with  the  eccentric  Kremer,  whose 
card  made  no  reference  to  the  speaker's  challenge.  He  con- 
tented himself  with  demanding  in  the  house  a  full  investigation 
of  the  charges  against  him  and  added  with  some  show  of  contempt 
that  "emanating  from  such  a  source  as  they  did,  this  was  the 
only  notice  which  he  could  take  of  them."  When  he  sat  down, 
Forsyth,  of  Georgia,  a  Crawford  man,  moved  that  a  select 
committee  of  investigation  be  appointed,  and  after  two  days' 
debate,  the  motion  was  carried  and  a  committee  was  chosen  from 
the  followers  of  Adams,  who  was  charged  with  complicity  in  the 
bargaining,  and  from  the  supporters  of  Crawford,  Jackson's  most 
bitter  enemy.  Had  they  been  taken  from  other  factions  they 
must  have  been  partisans  of  either  Clay  or  Jackson,  which  shows 
that  the  situation  was  difficult. 

When  Clay  demanded  an  investigation,  Kremer  rose  at  once 
to  promise  that  every  portion  of  his  charges  should  be  proved  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  house.  But  when  summoned  before  the 
committee  to  give  evidence,  he  refused  to  attend.  He  attempted 
to  justify  himself  in  a  long  letter,  which  he  evidently  did  not 
write  and  which  with  some  probability  has  been  attributed  to 
S.  D.  Ingham.'  The  committee  could  not  proceed  without  the 
chief  witness,  and  the  investigation  collapsed. 

Kremer  lacked  courage  for  a  fight,  and  he  had  no  case;  but 
had  he  been  a  better  fighter,  he  might  have  been  appalled  by  the 
situation  which  presented  itself.  His  charge  was  made  against 
some  of  the  friends  of  Clay,  but  the  Kentuckian  with  character- 
istic magnanimity  shouldered  the  responsibility  by  asking  that  he 
be  investigated.    But  in  the  debate  on  the  motion  to  appoint  a 


'Kremer's  reply  is  in  Colton,  Life  of  Clay,  I.,  307. 


362  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

committee,  it  became  evident  that  in  the  minds  of  many  Klremer 
himself  was  on  trial,  and  that  if  he  failed  to  satisfy  the  committee, 
he  might  expect  punishment  for  maliciously  attacking  a  high 
officer  of  the  house.  Moreover,  it  would  be  difficult  to  prove 
his  charge,  since  his  witnesses,  congressmen  friendly  to  Clay> 
would  hardly  care  to  repeat  to  the  committee  the  rumors  out  of 
which  Kremer  had  formed  his  opinion.  If  the  charges  failed, 
Jackson's  cause  would  be  discredited  with  those  necessary  fol- 
lowers of  Clay  without  whom  he  could  not  be  elected.  This 
last  phase  of  the  question  must  have  appealed  strongly  to  Jack- 
son's managers ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  at  this  stage  they 
took  the  whole  case  out  of  Kremer's  hands.  The  affair,  which 
he  probably  opened  himself  with  the  cognizance  of  friends, 
was  become  so  large  that  he  might  well  retreat  while  he 
could. 

Kremer  justified  his  refusal  on  the  ground  that  it  was  pro- 
posed to  hold  him  responsible  for  communicating  proper  in- 
formation to  his  constituents.  Such  a  proposal,  said  he,  was 
neither  constitutional  nor  expedient,  and  he  denied  the  juris- 
diction of  the  house  in  the  matter.  He  asserted  that  the  con- 
tention that  a  member  might  not  criticize  the  political  action  of 
a  high  officer  of  the  house  was  worse  than  the  sedition  law  of 
1798.  "It  may  be  proper  to  remark,"  he  added,  "in  explana- 
tion of  the  admission  which  I  may  seem  to  have  made  of  its 
jurisdiction:  Whatever  assent  I  may  have  given,  was  done 
hastily,  relying  on  the  conscious  rectitude  of  my  conduct,  and 
regarding  my  own  case,  without  having  reflected  duly,  on  the 
dangerous  principles  involved  in  the  proceedings,  and  cannot 
therefore  be  considered  as  a  waiver  of  my  rights."  He  closed 
by  asking  that  the  case  be  left  to  the  American  people  or  to  the 
courts.  As  applied  to  Kremer's  responsibility,  this  argument  has 
a  certain  plausibility,  although  it  falls  before  the  undoubted 
right  of  the  house  to  discipline  its  own  members.     But  he  was 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    363 

not  the  defendant,  and  his  reply  has  no  bearing  on  the  question 
of  Clay's  responsibility. 

In  the  meantime,  the  work  of  the  politicians  was  being  brought 
to  a  close.  When  congress  convened,  Adams  was  sure  of  Mary- 
land and  New  England,  seven  votes,  Jackson  felt  certain  of 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Tennessee,  South  Carolina,  Indiana, 
Alabama,  and  Mississippi.  Crawford  counted  on  Georgia, 
Virginia,  and  Delaware,  and  he  controlled  the  North  Carolina 
delegation,  although  the  electoral  vote  of  that  state  was  for 
Jackson.  His  supporters  hoped  that  in  case  of  a  deadlock,  he 
might  have  a  chance  at  the  prize  or  cast  the  deciding  vote  in 
favor  of  one  of  the  other  candidates.  Of  the  six  other  states 
Clay  could  carry  the  delegations  of  Ohio,  whose  electoral  vote 
he  also  had;  Kentucky,  in  spite  of  instructions  for  Jackson  by 
the  legislature;  and  Louisiana,  which  cast  its  electoral  vote  for 
Jackson.  In  New  York,  whose  electoral  vote  was  for  Adams, 
the  representatives  were  divided,  seventeen  for  Adams,  two  for 
Jackson,  and  fifteen  for  Crawford,  so  that  there  was  likely  to  be 
a  deadlock  in  the  delegation.  Illinois  cast  its  electoral  vote  for 
Jackson  and  its  one  representative,  D.  P.  Cook,  announced  soon 
after  his  arrival  in  Washington  that  he  should  consider  this  as 
instructions.  But  he  was  known  to  favor  Adams  on  personal 
grounds,  and  the  friends  of  that  gentleman  were  able  to  induce 
him  to  change  his  mind.  Missouri,  the  other  state,  cast  its 
electoral  vote  for  Clay,  but  when  he  was  out  of  the  race,  the 
sentiment  of  the  state  turned  to  Jackson.  It  was  represented 
in  the  house  by  a  single  delegate,  John  Scott,  who  for  a  time  was 
undecided.  Benton,  in  the  senate,  was  strongly  for  Jackson  and 
labored  hard  with  Scott  but  failed  at  last,  because,  as  is  alleged, 
the  delegate  was  promised  certain  favors  in  regard  to  the  public 
printing  with  the  assurance  that  his  brother  should  not  be  re- 
moved from  a  federal  judgeship  for  taking  part  in  a  recent  duel.i 

'Adams^  Memoirs,  VI.,  472,  473. 


364  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

By  this  means,  Adams  acquired  five  states,  four  of  which  came 
through  Clay's  influence,  and  had  altogether  twelve,  just  half 
of  the  total  number. 

Such  was  the  situation  when  the  house  on  February  9th  took  its 
first  vote.  It  was  generally  expected  that  the  result  would  be 
Adams  twelve,  Jackson  seven,  Crawford  four,  with  New  York 
divided;  and  politicians  were  actively  planning  for  future  ballots. 
Rurnor  said  that  eventually  Crawford  would  join  Jackson,  mak- 
ing eleven  votes,  with  New  York  evenly  divided  between  Jackson 
and  Adams,  a  most  interesting  situation.  But  all  these  pros- 
pects vanished  on  the  first  ballot,  when  by  the  change  of  one 
Crawford  representative,  New  York  went  for  Adams,  who  thus 
received  thirteen  votes  and  was  declared  elected.  Clay  is 
called  the  president-maker  of  1825,  and  either  Cook  or  Scott 
might  have  changed  the  result,  but  the  last  necessary  touch  to 
complete  the  election  was  actually  given  by  this  member  of  the 
New  York  delegation.  Martin  Van  Buren  in  his  unpublished 
autobiography  gives   a   singular  explanation   of   the  incident. 

One  of  the  New  York  representatives  was  Stephen  van  Rensse- 
laer, very  wealthy  and  very  pious.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
Alexander  Hamilton  and  therefore  much  opposed  to  the  Adams 
family.  Van  Buren,  a  Crawford  leader,  was  anxious  to  prevent 
an  election  on  the  first  ballot,  probably  in  order  to  have  the  credit 
of  throwing  necessary  votes  to  Adams  on  a  later  ballot.'  He 
relied  on  Van  Rensselaer,  who  declared  more  than  once  that  he 
would  not  vote  for  Adams.  But  on  the  morning  of  the  ninth 
as  Van  Rensselaer  went  up  to  the  capitol  he  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Clay  and  Webster,  w^ho  beset  him  strongly  with  such  arguments 
as  would  appeal  to  a  man  of  wealth  and  religious  conviction. 
His  purpose  was  shaken  and  he  began  to  ask  himself  if  he  had  a 
right  to  settle  so  important  a  matter  on  personal  grounds.  He 
formed  the  resolve  that  he  would  not  vote  for  Adams  on  the 

'Van  Buren  does  not  admit  this  purpose,  but  Hammond,  Polilical  Utslory  of  New   York,  II.,  190,  says  he 
had  it  on  the  best  authority.     See  also  Alexander,  Political  History  of  New  York,  I.,  341-343. 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    365 

first  ballot,  whatever  he  might  do  later  on.  "He  took  his  seat,' ' 
says  Van  Buren,  who  had  the  story  from  Van  Rensselaer  him- 
self, "fully  resolved  to  vote  for  Mr.  Crawford,  but  before  the 
box  reached  him,  he  dropped  his  head  upon  the  edge  of  his  desk 
and  made  a  brief  appeal  to  his  Maker  for  guidance  in  the  matter 
—  a  practice  he  frequently  observed  on  great  emergencies  — 
and  when  he  removed  his  hand  from  his  eyes,  he  saw  on  the 
floor  directly  before  him  a  ticket  bearing  the  name  of  John  Quincy 
Adams.  This  occurrence  at  the  moment  of  great  excitement  and 
anxiety,  he  was  led  to  regard  as  an  answer  to  his  appeal,  and 
taking  up  the  ticket,  he  put  it  in  the  box.  In  this  way,  it  was 
that  Mr.  Adams  was  made  President."' 

The  election  of  1825  was  an  unusual  opportunity  for  intrigue. 
Never  before  and  but  once  since  has  so  great  a  prize  been  at  the 
disposal  of  political  manipulators.  Considering  the  situation 
in  all  its  possibilities,  the  issue  was  as  good  as  could  have  been 
expected.  Adams,  the  man  chosen,  was  the  best  candidate, 
and  the  country  was  satisfied  with  the  choice. 

Jackson  himself  showed  no  resentment  until  he  knew  Clay 
would  go  into  the  cabinet.  His  old  friendship  for  Adams  lasted 
throughout  the  campaign,  and  as  late  as  July  4,  1824,  he  ex- 
pressed his  confidence  in  him,  adding,  "There  is  no  conduct  of 
Hypocritical  friends  that  can  alter  these  feelings. " '  When  his 
friends  first  spoke  of  ofifers  of  bargains,  he  believed  that  Adams 
had  no  part  in  them.  On  the  evening  of  February  9th,  the  two 
men  came  face  to  face  at  a  presidential  levee,  Jackson  with  a 
lady  on  his  right  arm.  Bystanders  were  curious  to  see  what 
would  happen.  Each  man  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  the 
tall  general  stepping  forward  said  heartily:  "How  do  you  do 
Mr.  Adams?  I  give  you  my  left  hand,  for  the  right,  as  you  see, 
is  devoted  to  the  fair:    I  hope  you  are  very  well,  sir. "    To  which 

•Van  Buren's  Autobiography,  I,  17,  Van  Buren  Mss. 
'Jackson  to  Judge  Fulton,  July  4,  1824,  Jackson  Mss. 


366  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

the  other  replied  coolly,  "Very  well,  sir:  I  hope  General  Jackson 
is  well";  and  wath  that  they  resumed  their  progress.  Observers 
concluded  that  the  Westerner  took  the  better  part  in  the 
encounter. 

February  14th,  he  learned  that  Clay  would  be  secretary  of 
state  and  turned  bitterly  against  Adams.  "I  have,  as  you 
know,"  he  wrote  to  Lewis,  "always  thought  Mr.  Adams  an 
honest,  virtuous  man,  and  had  he  spurned  from  him  those  men 
who  have  abandoned  those  principles  they  have  always  advo- 
cated, that  the  people  have  a  right  to  govern,  and  that  their 
will  should  be  always  obeyed  by  their  constituents,  I  should 
still  have  viewed  him  as  an  honest  man;  and  that  the  rumors  of 
bargain  and  sale  was  unknown  to  him. " ' 

In  this  letter  Jackson  rests  his  opposition  to  Adams  chiefly 
on  other  grounds  than  the  bargain  with  Clay;  and  the  same  is 
true  of  a  letter  he  wrote  to  Swartwout  two  days  later.'  On 
inauguration  day  he  was  the  first  to  congratulate  the  new  Presi- 
dent, which  elicited  marked  approval  from  the  press  of  the 
country.  But  Clay's  nomination  for  secretary  of  state  seemed 
to  him  to  confirm  all  his  suspicions,  and  he  began  openly  and 
bitterly  to  denounce  what  he  called  a  corrupt  bargain.  Six 
months  later,  when  the  country  rang  with  the  controversy,  he 
recounted  his  progress  in  the  matter  as  follows: 

I  had  esteemed  him  (Adams),  as  a  virtuous,  able  and  honest 
man;  and  when  rumor  was  stamping  the  sudden  union  of  his 
and  the  friends  of  Mr.  Clay  with  intrigue,  barter  and  bargain 
I  did  not,  nay,  I  could  not  believe  that  Mr.  Adams  participated 
in  a  management  deserving  such  epithets.  Accordingly  when  the 
election  was  terminated,  I  manifested  pubhcly  a  continuation 
of  the  same  high  opinion  of  his  virtue,  and  of  course  my  dis- 
belief of  his  having  had  knowledge  of  the  pledges  which  many 

'Jackson  to  W.  B.  Lewis,  February  14  and  20, 1823,  in  Parton,  Life  of  Jackson,  HI.,  73,  and  Mss.  coUectior 
of  New  York  Public  Library. 
'Jackson  to  Swartwout,  February  22,  1825,  in  Parton,  Jackson,  IIL,  75,  and  in  Jackson  Mss. 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    367 

men  of  high  standing  boldly  asserted  to  be  the  price  of  his 
election.  But  when  these  strange  rumors  became  facts,  when 
the  predicted  stipulation  was  promptly  fulfilled,  and  Mr.  Clay 
was  secretary  of  state,  the  inferrence  was  irresistible.  .  .  . 
From  that  moment  I  withdrew  all  intercourse  with  him,  not  how- 
ever, to  oppose  his  administration  when  I  think  it  useful  to  the 
country.' 

Here  Jackson  speaks  of  his  pubhc  attitude  toward  Adams: 
a  private  letter  written  at  the  time  of  the  inauguration  shows  a 
less  dignified  state  of  mind.     He  says: 

Yesterday  Mr.  Adams  was  inaugurated  amidst  a  vast 
assemblage  of  citizens,  having  been  escorted  to  the  capitol 
with  the  pomp  and  ceremony  of  guns  and  drums  not  very  con- 
sistent in  my  humble  opinion  with  the  character  of  the  occasion 
Twenty-four  years  ago,  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  inducted  into 
office,  no  such  machinery  was  called  in  to  give  solemnity  to  the 
scene.  He  rode  his  own  horse  and  hitched  himself  [sic^  to  the 
inclosure.  But  it  seems  that  times  are  changing.  I  hope  it  is 
not  so  with  the  principles  that  are  to  characterise  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  and  constitutional  law.  These,  in  my  fervent 
prayers  for  the  prosperity  and  good  of  our  country,  will  remain 
unaltered,  based  upon  the  sovereignty  of  the  People,  and  adorned 
with  no  forms  or  ceremonies,  save  those  which  their  happiness 
and  freedom  shall  command.' 

Adams's  diary  contains  interesting  evidence  about  his  relations 
with  Clay  during  this  famous  winter,  and  it  must  be  summed  up 
here,  even  at  the  risk  of  making  the  subject  appear  tedious. 
For  example,  Adams  visited  James  Barbour,  senator  from  Vir- 
ginia, to  know  how  that  important  state  would  vote.  He  was 
assured  that  it  would  support  Crawford  at  first  and  in  no  event 

*Jackson  to  H.  Lee,  October  7,  1825.  Jackson  Msa. 

*0f  course  the  word  "hitched "  is  used  intransitively.    The  story  that  Jefferson  tied  his  horse  to  the  fonce 
is  discredited  by  the  best  evidence. 
•Jackson  to  Swartwout,  March  5.  tSas,  a  copy,  Jackson  Mss. 


368  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

would  go  for  a  military  chieftain.'  The  reply  illustrates  the 
feeling  of  utter  hostility  which  the  old-line  republicans,  Vir- 
ginia at  their  head,  had  for  the  new  democratic- republican 
movement  which  centered  around  Jackson  and  Calhoun.  Clay 
was  willing  enough  to  be  president-maker  and  was  anxious  to 
secure  an  election  on  the  first  ballot,  before  Crawford's  sup- 
porters, who  must  support  their  candidate  at  first,  could  have  a 
chance  to  cast  the  deciding  votes. 

December  17,  Letcher,  of  Kentucky,  Clay's  "mess-mate," 
called  on  Adams.  Speaking  as  a  friend  of  Clay,  but  on  his  own 
authority,  he  inquired  as  to  Adams's  sentiments  toward  that 
gentleman.  The  reply  was  reassuring:  He  once  felt  Clay  had 
treated  him  badly  and  was  partly  responsible  for  Jonathan  Rus- 
sell's attack  in  regard  to  the  treaty  of  Ghent;  "but  having  com- 
pletely repelled  that  attack,  I  feel  no  animosity  toward  any 
person  concerned  in  it."  He  was  assured  that  Clay  felt  no 
hostility  toward  him,  and  the  conversation  ran  on  for  some 
time,  the  drift  being,  says  the  diary,  "that  Clay  would  willingly 
support  me  if  he  could  thereby  serve  himself,  and  the  substance 
of  his  meaning  was,  that  if  Clay's  friends  could  know  that  he 
could  have  a  prominent  share  in  the  administration,  that  might 
induce  them  to  vote  for  me,  even  in  the  face  of  instructions." 
It  is  one  of  the  provoking  features  of  this  persistent  diary  that 
it  rarely  tells  what  Adams  said  to  the  man  who  interviewed  him. 
In  this  case,  we  are  only  told,  "In  my  answers  to  him,  I  spoke  in 
more  general  terms.'" 

December  23d,  came  Letcher  again,  saying  he  was  anxious  that 
Adams  should  have  the  votes  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Illinois,  In- 
diana, Missouri,  and  Louisiana,  that  is,  all  the  states  which  the 
Clay  men  pretended  to  control.  Here  the  diary  is  most  tan- 
talizing; for  it  only  says  that  Adams  observed  that  he  supposed 

>Aclaai9,  Mtmoirt,  VI.,  466. 
nbid,  VI.,  416. 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES    369 

he  could  not  even  get  the  vote  of  Kentucky,  and  that  Letcher 
replied  that  this  state  was  "uncommitted."'  This  offer  would 
mean  the  presidency  on  the  first  ballot !  Can  wc  think  it  only 
evoked  a  shrug  from  one  man  and  a  reassuring  nod  from  the 
other? 

Clay  must  have  formed  a  favorable  opinion  from  these  over- 
tures; for  on  January  9th,  he  asked  for  an  interview,  and,  although 
it  was  Sunday,  Adams  gave  him  the  whole  evening.  He  an- 
nounced that  he  preferred  Adams  for  President,  but  that,  without 
any  reference  to  himself  personally,  he  would  like  to  know  his 
host's  views  on  certain  public  affairs.  Many  questions  must  have 
been  discussed  between  the  two  men,  but  the  diary  says  nothing 
about  them.  It  does  not  even  tell  us  what  were  the  matters 
about  which  Clay  desired  Adams's  opinion.  January  29th, 
Clay  called  again,  "and  sat  with  me  a  couple  of  hours  discussing 
all  the  prospects  and  probabiHties  of  the  Presidential  election. 
He  spoke  to  me  with  the  utmost  freedom  of  men  and  things." 
Evidently  the  two  men  were  now  equal  political  partners.' 

In  these  four  interviews,  the  most  interesting  things  were 
communicated.  They  probably  convinced  Adams  that  he  would 
be  President  if  Clay  were  made  secretary  of  state.  He  believed 
that  this  would  be  a  fit  appointment.  What  did  he  say  in  reply? 
We  are  not  told  specifically.  It  could  not  have  been  discourag- 
ing to  Clay,  or  he  would  not  have  sought  his  first  interviews. 
Can  it  be  doubted  that  there  was  about  this  matter  a  reasonable 
understanding  between  the  three  men,  Letcher,  Clay,  and  Adams, 
all  of  them  experienced  players  of  the  poUtical  game? 

The  day  after  the  election,  Adams  avowed  to  persons  con- 
cerned that  he  would  ask  Clay  to  become  secretary  of  state. 
Next  day  he  received  a  defiance  from  Calhoun:  If  the  Kentuckian 
went  into  the  cabinet,  a  determined  opposition  to  the  new 

'Adams,  Memoifs  VI.,  452. 
*Ibid,Vl.,  464,  483. 


370  LIFE  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON 

administration  would  be  formed  with  Jackson's  name  at  its 
head,  and  with  New  York  doubtful,  Virginia  in  opposition 
(through  the  antagonism  of  the  Crawford  following  to  Clay), 
the  West  generally  leaning  to  Jackson;  and,  the  rest  of  the  South 
turning  away  from  the  North,  it  would  make  a  formidable 
combination  and  Adams  would  be  left  with  no  reliance  except 
New  England,  Calhoun  went  so  far  as  to  name  the  cabinet, 
which  would  suit  him:  Poinsett,  Cheves,  John  McLean,  and 
Southard,  all  Calhoun  supporters,  and  not  one  from  the  Jackson 
wing  of  the  combination.  Adams  ever  disliked  Calhoun,  whom 
he  believed  to  be  unscrupulous  in  accomplishing  an  inordinate 
ambition.  He  took  this  challenge  as  but  an  attempt  to  frighten 
him  out  of  his  design  to  appoint  Clay;  and  he  proceeded  as  he 
had  determined.' 

Clay  was  as  little  to  be  frightened  as  the  new  President.  His 
letters  show  that  he  summed  up  the  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of  an  acceptance  with  much  penetration.'  As  he  himself 
states  them,  his  reasons  for  declining  seem  now  to  be  over- 
whelming. Why  did  not  Clay  understand  this?  Why  did  he 
take  the  weaker  side?  Probably  because  on  that  side  was  his 
bold  love  of  battle,  which  overcast  his  judgment  on  more  than 
one  occasion. 

Clay  knew  of  the  threats  to  form  an  opposition  and  affected 
to  disbeHeve  them.  He  was  soon  to  know  that  they  were  real. 
The  air  became  full  of  plans  to  defeat  his  nomination  in  the  senate. 
It  seemed  that  there  would  be  a  long  wrangle,  but  at  last  his 
opponents  contented  themselves  with  merely  voting  against 
him.  The  result  was  twenty-seven  for,  and  fifteen  against 
confirmation  of  the  nomination,  with  seven  senators  absent. 
Jackson  was  one  of  the  fifteen,  and  the  rest  were  from  his,  or 


lAdaou,  Memoirs,  VI.,  506.    It  is  characteristic  of  Adams  that  in  apite  of  these  threats,  ha  appoioted 
Poinsett  minister  to  Mexico  on  March  7.    See  Calhoun  Correstondmce  (Jameson,  Ed.),  334. 
»Clay  to  Brooke,  February  r8,  1825.  Colton,  Correspondence  of  Clay,  114. 


ELECTION  BY  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES     371 

Calhoun's,  or  Crawford's  following.  It  was  a  strong  vote 
in  a  weak  cause;  and  it  evidently  rested  on  a  deeper 
foundation  than  the  belief  that  Clay  had  made  a  corrupt 
bargain  with  Adams.  It  was  the  initial  skirmish  of  a  long 
conflict. 


